Ready for another year of learning

P.E.I. couple enjoys wide variety of courses offered by Seniors College of P.E.I.

Before Holly Hunt ventured into the working world, she loved to attend school. One of the first things she did when she retired was to go back to school.

Hunt has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Seniors College of Prince Edward Island for several years and, along with her spouse, Alkarim Sachedina, is preparing to sign up for many more courses when the new seniors college semester begins.

After working mainly in the Toronto area during their careers – Sachedina as an IT business analyst and Hunt as a staff trainer at major retail stores – they decided Prince Edward Island would become their retirement home, although neither had any family ties here.

“P.E.I. just felt right for me as soon as I moved here,” says Hunt. “It’s what I wanted, somewhere peaceful and not Toronto.”

Sachedina joked that outside of not having a Costco, the province has everything else in terms of health care, safety, friendly people, arts and culture and minor traffic jams.

“There is no hustle and bustle, but you have everything you need.”

The couple met in 1989, but when it came to moving to P.E.I. Hunt arrived first in early 2016. Business commitments kept Sachedina from becoming a full-time Islander until early 2020.

Always “a curious person” and with time on her hands, Hunt found out about the Seniors College of Prince Edward Island and decided to check it out.

“I just thought it would be something interesting, a time killer and maybe I would meet some people.”

She is about to start her eighth year at the college.

“P.E.I. has a lot of great things going on but I think seniors college is the best thing they have. When I tell friends and family that live in other parts of the country … they just think that it’s the greatest thing.”

Online registration for the college’s 130-plus courses opens at 9 a.m. on Sept. 6. The college offers fall, winter and spring semesters in Summerside, Charlottetown, Montague.

College president Shirley Pierce advises people to go to the website at seniorscollege.ca, review the available courses on the college website, pay the $170 registration fee in advance and click away after registration opens. She says the popular courses can quickly fill up. The registration fee allows a person to take as many courses as they desire.

For the upcoming college year, Sachedina and Hunt plan to enrol in 32 courses. Hunt says that works out to about $5 a course for them.

“The variety is awesome,” says Sachedina. “It doesn’t matter what your interest is, there is something there for everyone.”

Being newcomers, the couple has especially enjoyed courses on the Island’s history, a course on the Mi’kmaq, walking tours of historic buildings and visits to landmarks like Glenaladale. The astronomy course offered by instructor Ron Perry has been their favourite.

“I moved here and was out on my balcony one night and saw these things in the sky that I hadn’t seen in many years, having been in Toronto,” says Hunt. “I was like, that’s pretty cool, all these stars. And then I saw there was an astronomy course.”

Hunt says thanks to the college she has gotten to know many people on a first-name basis.

“There is rarely a day, if I go to town, and I am walking through a store, that someone doesn’t come up to me and say they remember me from school or say, ‘Hi Holly.’ It makes me feel that I’m not that ‘from away.’ I’m a little closer to being part of the fabric of the Island.”