Nova Scotia·NewMary Smith was named this year’s Nova Scotian recipient of the Council of the Federation Literacy Award on Friday at a ceremony in New Waterford.Mary Smith, 36, received high school equivalency last yearCBC News · Posted: Sep 13, 2025 2:07 PM EDT | Last Updated: 23 minutes agoMary Smith was awarded the Council of the Federation Literacy Award for Nova Scotia on Friday. The ceremony was held in New Waterford. (Province of Nova Scotia)It can be daunting to return to school as an adult learner, but one New Waterford woman is making a case for it.On Friday, Mary Smith was named this year’s Nova Scotian recipient of the Council of the Federation Literacy Award. The award recognizes individuals who have shown significant progress in literacy and made an impact in their communities. “It’s never too late to go back to school,” she said Friday.”Some people think it’s scary or that they’re too old to do it, but it’s actually the perfect time to do it, because … we have a better grounding of who we are as people and what we like and what we want to do.” Smith, who is 36, knows this first-hand. She paused her studies in her teenage years after being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that made it difficult to focus on anything more than just getting by. “From the time I was about 16 years old until 2019, doctors have been kind of back and forth on whether or not I would survive,” she said. But in 2019, after a successful liver transplant, her disease went into remission. She later began studying at the Adult Learning Association of Cape Breton County in hopes of earning a Canadian Adult Education Credential, the adult equivalent to a high school diploma.’Bright future’She received her credential in 2024. Along the way, she pushed her classmates to read more, encouraging them to apply for library cards. She later founded a lending library at the school. She is now enrolled in the metal fabrication program at the Nova Scotia Community College in Sydney.”I’m 36 years old and I’m going to community college for the first time in my life,” she said. Lisa MacDougall, the executive director of the Adult Learning Association of Cape Breton County, says Smith’s success is proof of what can happen when adults go back to school.”Mary’s story is exceptional,” she said. “It’s inspiring. It’s motivating.… It’s the reason we do what we do. She’s set her goals and she’s achieved them and she has such a bright future ahead.”
‘It’s never too late to go back to school,’ says literacy award winner from Cape Breton
