The support that changed everything: Scott Grant’s story

May 26, 2026

People of Georgian is a series that celebrates the people behind the scenes, the learners, leaders and changemakers whose journeys reflect the lasting impact of the Georgian experience. In this edition, we meet Scott Grant, a graduate of Georgian’s Child and Youth Care program (class of 2007) whose path was shaped by perseverance.

What began as a frantic long-shot search for meaning and direction, became a life changing journey through Georgian College, where Scott discovered his strengths, found his purpose and built the foundation for a meaningful career helping others.

“Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.” – Henry David Thoreau

In 2005, I came to Georgian College hoping to find direction and stability in my life. The previous fall, I had started at another college, only to withdraw from my program by November. Arriving at Georgian’s Barrie Campus felt like another opportunity, but I entered anxious, unsure of myself.

I enrolled in the Business program, not because it was where I truly wanted to be, but because it seemed like a practical way to move forward. Within the first few weeks, familiar fears resurfaced. I struggled academically, especially with math, and anxiety made it difficult to focus or process the material I was trying so hard to understand. I remember walking toward Student Success overwhelmed with fear and uncertainty, unsure whether asking for help would make any difference.

I met a woman with a gold name tag who, I think, could see the fear in my flushed face and teary eyes. She walked me to counselling services, where I met Joyce. In a flood of emotion, I explained how overwhelmed I felt, how scared I was of failing again and how much shame I attached to the possibility of another setback.

That decision to ask for help became one of the most important turning points of my life.

Throughout my first year, I met with Joyce regularly and was connected to several supports through Student Success, including a Learning Strategist, career assessments and psychological testing that helped me better understand both my challenges and strengths. For the first time, I felt like I was not carrying everything alone.

With those supports, I slowly began to rebuild my confidence. I learned to focus on small, manageable goals: complete one course, then one semester, then one academic year. That shift in perspective changed everything. Instead of being consumed by the fear of failure, I began focusing on progress.

To my surprise, my grades climbed into the 80s and 90s, and by the end of my first year, I had earned Dean’s List honours. More importantly, I had started to believe in myself in a way I never had before.

Through career exploration supports and my experiences with Student Success, I discovered a passion for helping others, which led me to transfer into the Child and Youth Worker program at Georgian’s Orillia Campus. In 2007, I received the Child and Youth Worker award and graduated from the program — an achievement that once would have felt impossible.

During that time, I also learned about Georgian’s University Partnership Centre and discovered that I could use my grades and credits to apply to a Bachelor of Social Work program. For someone who once doubted whether he belonged in college at all, the idea of university felt monumental. Yet, in the spring of 2009, I was accepted into a Bachelor of Social Work program and carried forward the same strategies Georgian had helped me develop: focus on small goals, remain persistent and keep moving forward.

Over time, I found a deep sense of purpose and belonging within social work. During my undergraduate studies, I co-authored and published research with a professor, something I never could have imagined when I first arrived at Georgian feeling overwhelmed and uncertain. I later completed my Master of Social Work at Wilfrid Laurier University in 2014.

Today, I have had the privilege of working for 13 years as a Social Worker in First Episode Psychosis at the Canadian Mental Health Association and helping educate future social workers at Conestoga College.

When I look back, Georgian College was far more than a place where I earned credentials. It was where I learned how to work through fear, ask for help and build confidence through small but meaningful progress. What began as an uncertain step onto campus became a transformative journey shaped by support, persistence and self-belief.

Georgian helped me realize that growth does not require having everything figured out from the start. Sometimes, it simply begins with one uncertain step, the courage to ask for help and the willingness to keep moving forward.