“It lit me up to see my name, "Jesse Thistle," alongside "University of Ottawa." I'd done something significant. I'd actually achieved something in my life. I didn't have a driver's license, ID, a proper high school education, a health card, nothing—but there was this completion certificate that had "university" with my name under it!”
―
Jesse Thistle,
From the Ashes: My Story of Being Indigenous, Homeless, and Finding My Way