BC NOTARIES Andrea Banks
VALEDICTORIAN
Endings and Beginnings
T
oday, Wednesday, June 7, 2017, is an ending.
After many, many hours of instruction, too many online postings to count, 17 written assignments, 14 academic exams, 6 statutory exams, 4 debates, 3 weeks of mentoring, and 1 conveyancing oral exam, here we are. We’ve completed our academic and practical training. We take with us memories of the saga of Adam and Jennifer. We recognize compelling arguments. We witnessed conartistry in action at a fake “get-rich-quick-inreal-estate” seminar. Throughout it all, we also managed to learn what we will need to thrive as Notaries, things like how to convey a property, how to critically review contracts to protect our clients’ interests, and how to assess someone’s competency to make a Will. We received real-life pointers from practitioners about running a Notary practice and we understand that what our clients, fellow Notaries, our regulator, and the public expect from us is accurate and timely work, done ethically, honestly, and with integrity. Of course, today is also a beginning. Some of us who were working as legal assistants and conveyancers saw this program as a logical next step. Those of us working in a related field, like banking or real estate, began this program to build on our experience. Volume 26 Number 2 Summer 2017
Others of us who had been city planners, immigration consultants, land title examiners, educators, translators, photographers, green roof marketers, lab managers, human resource directors, or accountants used the program as a way to gain career autonomy. Today, despite our different roads here, all of us have something in common; we are beginning our life as BC Notaries.
Finally, we want to recognize the most important people in our lives—our friends and family who provided financial, practical, and emotional support… We will be opening a new office, taking over a practice, initiating a partnership, working in a different location. Many of us are also looking forward to taking on Committee and Board of Director roles with The Society and shaping the future for all Notaries. We worked hard, but we did not get to this milestone on our own; many people helped us along the way. We appreciate the support of The Notary Foundation and its Board of Governors. We offer a heartfelt thank you to Dr. Rob Gordon and the Simon Fraser University professors, adjuncts, teaching assistants, and staff who led us through the Master of Arts The Scrivener | www.notaries.bc.ca/scrivener
in Applied Legal Studies education program. Special thanks are due to Marny Morin and all the staff members of The Society of Notaries Public of BC. We are especially grateful to the many Notaries and lawyers who provided practical training and classroom instruction and who as mentors contributed generous amounts of advice and wisdom. As we mark transitions today, we take note that we are the last cohort to complete the Notary training program with Wayne Braid as Chief Executive Officer of The Society. Thank you, Wayne, for all your work on behalf of The Society and for everything that you have done for us as students— especially for that wonderful telephone call on April 5 when you congratulated us for passing our statutory exams. Best wishes for your new beginning! Finally, we want to recognize the most important people in our lives— our friends and family who provided financial, practical, and emotional support and gave up time with us to allow us to study. For all those dinners you ate alone while we stared at our computer screen and occasionally tapped furiously on the keyboard or the times when we might have been physically present but our thoughts seemed to be elsewhere, we owe you profound gratitude, and we promise— somehow—to make it up to you. Thank you for everything. s TABLE OF CONTENTS
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