One dream at a time

Margaret Sparks is facing challenges head-on to get a BA. (Danny Abriel Photo)

Margaret Sparks is fulfilling one dream at a time. First, she’s determined to get her Bachelor of Arts degree and then she’ll work on becoming an opera singer. After that, maybe she’ll take up painting or become a costume designer.

“I aim to get a BA in music with voice as my major,” explains Ms. Sparks, who is in her early 70s. “That’s the first thing.”

She took an 18-month-long nursing course at community college decades ago. Over a long career in the health-care system, she worked as a nurse, a lab assistant, a caregiver and a babysitter. Now she’s a Dalhousie University student.

“I always wanted to go to university, but when I was young, we were living in the country. At that time, your parents had to have lots of money for you to go to school. It wasn’t only the school part, it was finding a place to board in the city. In the end, I just wasn’t university material, I guess. The only thing for me to do was to get a job.”

Ms. Sparks is easing into university life by taking two courses: The History of Music and Conversational Italian. So far, the transition hasn’t been easy. She doesn’t have a computer or access to email. And she’s finding it tough to keep up with her homework. She’s not letting challenges stand in her way.

“The chance to learn, that’s the best part,” she says with a smile. “I think I’ll settle into it soon enough.”