The stars aligned: Perseverance pays off

Waylon Falcon remembers sitting inside an academic upgrading classroom, watching out the window as houses went up in record numbers in the Lloydminster community. As a construction worker, choosing to go back to school during the housing boom of 2004 was difficult, he recalls. It would have been so much easier to be out there, building houses and making enough money to secure his young family’s future.

“It was tough,” he confesses. “Especially taking the extra time to do upgrading. I could have been out there working and instead I was inside a classroom. It was definitely a sacrifice, but it paid off. Without that education, I wouldn’t be where I am now.”

Twenty years later, in his position as senior advisor in Community and Indigenous Affairs with Cenovus Energy, it’s easy for Falcon to look back without regrets. He’d come from a humble upbringing, moving around rural Saskatchewan with a father who found work in farming areas. He’d left home at a young age to finish high school in North Battleford and shortly after moved to Lloydminster, a city he's called home for about 35 years.

He’d started out working at the refinery in a short-term position, then at the upgrader. He worked as a construction labourer, became a carpentry apprentice, and then drove truck for a little while – doing whatever he had to do to support his family. When he suffered a back injury, he decided it was time to go back to school and make a change. He and his wife Darlene decided to go back to school.

“All the stars lined up for us to go at the same time,” Falcon says. “Our kids were little and Lakeland was right here. We didn’t have to go to Saskatoon or Edmonton, we could stay at home and work over the summers.”

Five steps back

Even with the stars aligned, it was a sacrifice. Falcon and his wife gave up their jobs, sold their house to pay off debt and rented low-income housing.

“It felt like five financial steps back,” Falcon says. “But in the end, it took us 10 steps ahead. Without that education, I wouldn’t be where I am today, working for one of the best companies in the city to work for.”

He applied to the business program but needed a year of academic upgrading to meet the requirements. After that, he completed his Lakeland business diploma and then a business degree through Lakeland’s partnership with Athabasca University.

Falcon’s experience at Lakeland was a transformative one for him on an academic level, but also showed him the type of person he wanted to be. He remembers his instructors fondly and by name, listing them and the lessons they taught him that stuck with him, from how to use Excel to how to properly shake hands. He learned marketing, accounting, statistics, public speaking, critical thinking and business writing, as well as resilience and belief in himself.

“It was just an incredible experience,” he says, recalling how his instructors worked with him when he struggled on exams, giving him extra time to work through the questions. After a while, he no longer needed extra time.

“It helped me build my confidence,” Falcon explains. “Had I been at a university, I may have ended up dropping out when faced with that challenge. But at Lakeland, the instructors cared about my success and gave me that extra time. I never, ever felt like a number at Lakeland.

“I remember my instructors by name because they had such a huge impact on me,” he says. “Attending Lakeland definitely helped me become a better person, just seeing how my instructors treated others. It taught me that’s how you’re supposed to treat somebody.”

While at Lakeland, Falcon experienced financial support as well, both from Lakeland’s scholarship and bursary programs and similar ones from different groups in the communities. It made all the difference for him and his family.

“We needed that bit of extra support and it was so good to know it was there,” he says. He was awarded funding for business and Indigenous students from various companies, as well as the Alberta Métis Society. He was able to access affordable housing. At Lakeland, he had free tutoring and then eventually became a tutor himself, earning some extra cash. It meant being able to attend school, buy necessities like clothing, and every now and again, being able to take his children to rent a movie.

“It sounds arbitrary,” he says. “But it was an experience for us and our kids and they still remember those fond memories. Without that financial support, we wouldn’t have those little extra things. At first, you feel like you’re depending on other people too much, but those people are there providing that support to people who need it, so they can go back to school.

We definitely made a lot of sacrifices but it didn’t feel like a panic situation because we knew there was support if we needed it. It all circles back to what I do now in our company.”

Ten steps forward

In his role at Cenovus, Falcon is in a place where he is privileged to be able to help the community the way he was helped as a student.

Falcon works with the Community and Indigenous Affairs Department at Cenovus, functioning as the local “boots on the ground” for the larger enterprise team based in Calgary. Part of his role includes meeting with non-profits in Lloydminster and surrounding area. Together, the team navigates Cenovus’s social investment in the area.

He also works with Indigenous business development and is also involved in community relations, assisting municipal and community leaders to connect with Cenovus. He also works with Cenovus’s real estate team.

“I wear a lot of different hats during the day,” he explains. “I have to be very agile. I think going to Lakeland helped me a lot with that because we didn’t just focus on one thing. It got my mind able to switch throughout the day.”

Some of the community investment portfolios Falcon promotes include committing money to the Indspire Awards, as well as scholarships and bursaries for students.

At Lakeland, Cenovus has supported the student awards program. They also played a pivotal role in the creation of the Energy Centre and Lloydminster campus residences.

They have been presenting sponsors at Feast on the Farm, the college’s premiere fundraising event, for three consecutive years. In 2023, they made a $650,000 donation to the Indigenous learner success program at the college as well.

“When Lakeland approached us about the student success program, I thought, 'Wow, what an opportunity, being asked as a company to support that,'” Falcon says. “We are honoured as a company to be able to support these partnerships and the continuous support of the community.

“I truly believe I have this job because of my experience at Lakeland. People like to tell me that I’m doing a dream job but I do it because it makes a difference in our community. This is a dream job for a lot of people and I’m very fortunate that the stars aligned for me. Had I not had the chance to go to Lakeland College, right here locally, I wouldn’t be working here right now. I’m glad I stuck it out.”