Extreme career makeover

Two people have received a life changing award from Lethbridge College.

The winners of the college’s first Extreme Career Makeover competition have been announced after thousands of people around the world voted. The top two, from a list of ten, will receive two years of tuition, books and accommodation. The competition is a unique way to help students get a college education.

“It gave an opportunity for people who maybe couldn’t come to school otherwise to have an opportunity for a post secondary education,” said college marketing and communications manager Carmen Toth.

Greg Matt of Lethbridge, who is one of the two top winners, has three jobs and takes care of his wife and two year old son.
His wife Erin has a rare genetic disease that predisposes people to develop tumors. She is a teacher who is unable to work steadily because of the condition. Greg entered the contest hoping he will be able to support his family financially with one job.

“Working the three jobs, I could definitely use a career makeover,” said Matt. “It’s just, it’s just working so many hours every day, something has got to change. I’d like to study in the trades, you know electrician, power line technician something like that that keeps me busy, get paid and you know I could spend time with my family.”

More than 60 thousand votes were cast by people around the world. Ballots came from 800 cities in 80 different countries. The largest number of votes were cast in Canada, the United States, Nepal, Germany and Vietnam.

Kevin Boys is the winner who shares first place with Greg Matt. Boys is an ambitious outdoor enthusiast who plans to study envionmental science. He copes with dyslexia, which discouraged him at first, but he learned to work around it by using computer technology and having people speak written text to him.

“He found ways around to accomplish his goals,” said Toth. “He’s very involved with his community, with cadets, with 4H, an amazing young man.”

All of the eligible contests won something in the Extreme Career Makeover. The other two in the top four, Nick Shearer of Lethbridge and Bindi Tiwari of Calgary each received 25 hundred dollar awards to Lethbridge College. The remaining eligible contestants all received one thousand dollar awards.