Darcie Taylor

Writing was her path to confidence

New author and NorQuest grad Darcie Bennet Taylor credits the college for helping her achieve her dream of becoming a writer.

“I always wanted to write a book, but I didn’t think it would be possible because I couldn’t read or write very well,” she says.

Well into her adult life Taylor struggled with an undiagnosed learning disability, especially with the rules of English. Just to understand why some letters like the ‘c’ in cat sound one way and the ‘c’ in ceiling a completely different way was hard. Separating long from short vowels was another issue all together.

"For a long ‘a’ just say ‘a’ longer,” was how she understood it. “For a short ‘a’ just say ‘a’ for a shorter period of time.”

Things began to change in the early 2000s when she made a decision to improve her life through education. She began her journey through an adult learning program in her hometown of Hinton. A year later she enrolled in the Academic Upgrading program at NorQuest’s Edmonton Downtown campus.

Today, she is the author of My Little Red Wagon– an inspiring children's book based on the true story of her relationship with her daughter. After she had turned it into a bedtime story, it became one of her last written projects at NorQuest College before she graduated from the Office Administration program more than 10 years ago.

“NorQuest is where I received the biggest break of my education; life changing, you could say. I always thought I was part of a different class of people. NorQuest was the start of my life, my self-confidence, my work confidence, my life confidence.”

Taylor started her learning process at NorQuest at the Grade 5 level. When her NorQuest College experience finished, she was an honour student.

“I want my book to inspire others and to help them know that it is possible to learn. I want them to know that dreams do come true, just need to dream with passion and that there is help out there.”