Students in the Aboriginal Cultures and Awareness Class at Portage Collegiate Institute were left inspired after hearing from a guest speaker who experienced the residential school system.

Order of Canada recipient Joe Irvine Keeper, 88, spoke to students last week, sharing some of his life experiences and delivering a positive message about pursuing education. Keeper is orginally from Norway House, and went to a residential school in Portage la Prairie, then was given the chance to attend and graduate from PCI in the 1940s.

Hearing Keeper's stories from being in a residential school impacted students. Sadie Wiebe says it was sad to hear how people were so mistreated.

"I consider us all equal," Wiebe says. "And the fact that other people can't get it through their minds that we're all human, and should be humane to each other is really hard."

Grade 12 student Camilla Kinnear had the chance to interview Keeper, and says it was a great learning experience. One story really stood out to her. Keeper recalled a time when was working in a mine, and while interviewing for the job he was asked the question: "What are you?" Keeper lied, feeling he needed to hide his identity, and said he was French.

"I think that was the most impactful story for me. Who asks that question, 'what are you?," Kinnear says. "That's just so strange. No one asks that in an interview now."

"Just seeing the differences in the times was really interesting."

Student Madisyn Neufeld says hearing Keeper's story about having to hide his identity to work at the mine helped change her perspective.

"It was impactful because it told everyone 'don't hide yourself,'" Neufeld says. "Even in this day in age, people still want to hide themselves, and it's kind of wrong."

"We should be a more accepting place. Back then, I guess people weren't very accepting of who you were and that's why he felt the need to lie about not being who he was," Neufeld continues. "I connected with it because I used to hide myself all the time, about who I was. Now I don't."

Kinnear says she was most inspired by what Keeper was able to accomplish in life after experiencing the residential school system. Among his many accomplishments: He went on to help found the Manitoba Metis Federation and was part of the National Indian Council.

"I really found that what he did after was all so impressive," Kinnear says. "All because knowing this assimilation he was facing was wrong."