Janet Hodgson (BA 1979 UTSC) (MEd 1981 OISE) could not have imagined she would receive a student award. Yet, on a summer evening in the 1970s, this is precisely what happened. She found herself stuck on the Don Valley Parkway on the way to her graduation ceremony while Prof. Joan Foley announced her a winner of the Diefenbaker Essay Prize in a hall full of graduates back at UTSC.
Life isn’t about the breaths we take. It’s about the moments that take our breath away.
Back to School
As a single mother of two young children working full time, Janet decided to go back to school after seeing a male colleague's pay slip. “I saw somebody's paycheck in his first year, and he was getting more money doing a worse job than I was simply because he had letters behind his name. I thought I must go to university, so I started at Scarborough College.” Consequently, Janet became a full-time teacher and parent, as well as a part-time student.
During her first lecture, the professor assigned a 10-page paper. With self-professed poor typing skills and no experience writing essays, Janet felt overwhelmed. “I was floored! I had never written 10 pages of anything, and I thought I didn't know enough to write 10 pages. However, I did a lot of research and wrote it by hand and paid to get it typed up. Three years later, I got the Diefenbaker prize,” recounts Janet, speaking from the rocking chair she bought with the $300 prize money.
Juggling school with parenting and her job as a kindergarten teacher was difficult, but Janet persevered, graduating in 1979. At that time, U of T held two separate convocation ceremonies at St. George and Scarborough campuses. But, like everything else in her life, Janet's convocation experience was a little out of the ordinary.
(Right) Her recieving the student award from Prof. Joan Foley at the Meeting Place, after the Scarborough campus graduation ceremony, which she missed due to being stuck on the Don Valley Parkway (1979)
She recalls that momentous evening, saying, "I went to Convocation Hall, and I was part of all those people walking across the circle. I was in heaven! These were my people. On the way to the Scarborough graduation, I got stuck on the Don Valley Parkway. I missed my name being announced during the program, but later, Joan Foley took me aside and gave me the Diefenbaker. It would have been grander to receive it in front of many people, but having that moment with her was very special.”
Janet still speaks fondly of her time at UTSC and its positive impact on her ability to provide a good life for her children; one of them even followed in her footsteps by pursuing higher education at her alma mater.
She is also an avid believer in giving back to the community, making an annual donation to the University. She recently pledged a generous donation to Indigenous House, reaffirming her commitment to the Scarborough community, of which she is still proudly part.
Living Life on Her Own Terms
Despite a head-on car accident in 1988 severely impacting her physical abilities, Janet, a globe-trotter with an adventurous spirit, has travelled extensively since 2000.
"Since '88, my life has totally changed physically, but I've made sure not to make that the focus of my life." True to her words, she hasn’t let her mobility limitations define her and remains determined to live life to the fullest.
In 2008, with a thrilling voyage to Antarctica, she completed the grand achievement of touring all seven continents. Last year, she travelled to Alaska with her daughter. She meticulously documents her travels in pictures, pamphlets, and local memorabilia scrapbooked in vast, well-bound albums—an homage to her love for learning about different people and cultures worldwide.
“You have to find the little pieces of joy”
When asked if she lives by any one phrase, Janet says, “Life isn’t about the breaths we take. It’s about the moments that take our breath away.”
In a world that constantly encourages us to find happiness externally, Janet's life is a testament to the idea that one can transform life and cultivate genuine happiness through consistent daily actions, even if those actions seem small. Janet has always created her own spaces of joy and togetherness and certainly inspires those around her to do the same.
“At 83, I have so many moments that I have lived in real joy, and I'm most grateful to the universe that I've made it this far. I’m in a lot of pain, but I enjoy what I do, and that’s enough. I have so many things going for me, and I look for joy in everything. I do an incredible amount of fun things. I belong to two book clubs, shuffleboard, and two choirs, so it's a good life,” she concludes.