It took Chris Kelly close to three years, 21 days at sea and more than 12,000 kilometres' worth of travel to finally get Math 12.
It took him three kicks at the can, since lessons from a textbook at Point Grey secondary wouldn’t take. His friends had all graduated high school and moved on to UBC while Kelly shifted between community colleges in an attempt to understand algebra and algorithms.
He unlocked those secrets on the Pacific Ocean of all places, while serving as a navigator aboard a freighter destined for Sydney, Australia.
Forty years and a few other missteps later, Kelly retired before the age of 60 after serving as the superintendent of schools in both Richmond and Vancouver.
Not bad for someone who had little interest in academics and didn’t get to graduate on time.
Kelly and fellow Point Grey classmate Nick Orchard look back on the summer of 1968 with healthy doses of reality and nostalgia as they prepare for their 50th class reunion on June 22. Orchard carved out a successful international career in TV production, working at the BBC and CBC on shows such as EastEnders and The Beachcombers.
He’ll join Kelly and about 60 other alumni Friday for a school tour and question-and-answer session to share pearls of wisdom with current Point Grey grads who say goodbye to high school next week.
Before doing so, the class of ’68 grads spoke to the Courier to reflect on why they are who they are, and how they became the people they are today. The Courier also spoke to two outgoing students who are getting primed to leave mom and pop’s place for the first time.
Ryan Davies, 17, and 18-year-old Ben Clayton are headed to Queen’s and Waterloo universities respectively. Buddies since Grade 8, they’re both going on to study engineering.
The following excerpts are taken from two-plus hours the Courier spent at the West Side school talking to two very different generations of Vancouverites.
What do you remember about this exact timeframe in your life 50 years ago?
Kelly: I wasn’t looking ahead at all. It wasn’t because I was aimless, but I had been so intensively involved in this peer group and the events at this school that I didn’t have a sense of what would come next. Things happened somewhat randomly in the ensuing four or five years.
Orchard: It was a glorious time. I knew I was going to go on to university, but it wasn’t until halfway through my Grade 12 year that I saw a UBC calendar and realized there was a theatre department there. I thought I could drift for four years if I went into theatre, and so I did. I didn’t have any clear sense of direction as to what I would do when those four years were over.
Did your life end up going in the direction that you thought it would, based on your hopes for the future when you were 18?
Kelly: No. I was never thinking about that consciously. But I think subconsciously it was completely in the works because school was kind of like a theatre. And I don’t mean that in a superficial way. My time here at Point Grey was incredibly formative and engaging. I loved my time here. I was not a scholar nor did I pretend to be because I wasn’t that interested in academics and studies. I was interested in the social component of school.
Orchard: I was not a stellar student. But what this school did to me was that it taught me all kinds of social stuff: how to get along with people, how to get something accomplished. Working as a producer, you have to learn how to work together and get people pointed in the right direction.
What do you make of the world these 18 year olds are about to step into?
Kelly: The thing that’s patently obvious to me is that the 18-year-olds today, just by dint of circumstance, they have much higher levels of sophistication in terms of knowledge and awareness. They have a more deeply developed sense of personal capacity than we ever had. I don’t think you can compare the breadth of what someone like Ben or Ryan has within themselves from the standpoint of awareness and possibility compared to the two of us at the age of 18. I’m not saying lesser or more. But the world has become more and complex, both positively and negatively, and it’s had this residual effect on child and youth development. Whether they like it or not, they’re exposed to more in the way of challenges and issues than we ever were.
Orchard: It still looks pretty good. If you come from this neighbourhood, I do think that has something to do with it. You do have the support systems that some other places might not have. I have renewed faith in young kids. For many years I feared that kids were not as active and involved as we were. They seemed self-centred and only concerned about what’s in it for them. But I’m really inspired by kids who are standing up and being active again. That seems to be turning around and I think that’s a good thing.
How do you define success?
Kelly: When you blend your own sense of moral imperative with your true sense of personal fulfilment, then you will have found your own sense of vocation. And when you find your own sense of vocation, then you generate hope. That leads to your own point of personal success. It was later in life that I realized that I had happened into my own sense of vocation without any game plan but with that sense of confidence.
Orchard: The bank balance is the last thing you look at. Success is being content in your own self and being happy with yourself, while knowing that you’re contributing something to this world and not taking things away. Being able to do what I wanted to do has me continually saying how blessed I feel that in this life I got to do what I really wanted to do. Most days I feel like I didn’t work at all and that’s coming off a 12 or 13 hour day. To me that’s success.
How have you dealt with disappointment or rough patches in your life?
Kelly: There have been a couple instances where I’ve found myself lost either in my work or in my personal life from the standpoint of “what matters and what’s gone wrong here?” The only way I’ve been able to deal with that is through relationships with another person. It wasn’t a case of me finding some sort of refuge or digging down and finding out for myself. It was dependent entirely upon a primary relationship or an incidental relationship that’s given me some reflection from outside myself that’s given me a larger picture. But I have to say, I’ve been pretty lucky.
Orchard: Doing my job, I’m pitching shows all the time. For every one that succeeds, there’s nine that don’t. Some of them are heartbreaking. You spend a year or two developing something, you put your heart and soul into it and then it doesn’t happen. That’s just part of the business and you just keep going. Sometimes the thing that knocks you back turns out to be another door opening.
***
Over to the Grade 12 students for a Generation Z take on the world. The longest Clayton has been away from home was a month. For Davies, that time frame shrinks down to a week. They can both do laundry. Clayton says he can cook, while Davies answered the question with a prolonged “Uhh...”
Neither knows how to write out a rent cheque or pay bills.
How is the feeling of impending graduation different than what you thought it would be in Grade 8?
Davies: In Grade 8 I knew so little. My high school expectations were based on high school movies: cross a stage, shake a hand grab a scroll and then your parents kick you out of the house to find a job.
Clayton: I didn’t really have an idea of what I wanted to do after high school when I started Grade 8. I was just more excited about what was to come. Now I’m excited for what comes next.
If you move back to Vancouver after your studies are done, how will you afford to live?
Davies: If I can earn enough money to live here, that’s the goal. But it’s not expensive without reason. You have the mountains and the ocean right in front of you. If I can make enough money to live here, I want to live here.
Clayton: The end goal isn’t necessarily to come back here. I’ll live wherever I can within my means. If I have enough to live here, I’ll come back. I love this place. I think it’s the ideal place for someone who wants to be inside or outside.
You’re both of a generation that doesn’t know a time before the internet. How do you avoid being constantly distracted?
Davies: In high school today, clicks are definitely a thing and popularity is definitely tied to being able to use your phone. But at the same time you can’t let that consume you. Knowing where you’re going is highly regarded. Going on your phone 24/7 might get you a lot of friends, but it also might lead you to going nowhere.
Clayton: Being able to do something that you really don’t need your phone for is really important — stuff like sports, music or being outside. Having a creative outlet is really important. I’m the kind of person who doesn’t get super addicted to a phone.
How do you define success?
Davies: Success would be the ability to be happy consistently. Money is just a means to an end.
Clayton: Success is totally different for everyone you ask. I think success is meeting your own personal goals and being confident in who you are and what you’ve done.
How have you dealt with disappointment or rough patches in your life?
Davies: I can’t really think of recent examples. Because I’m still so young not a whole lot matters enough to be properly disappointed about. If I get a crappy grade I try to minimize it. I think about how it will affect me in the future. If it doesn’t have a lasting effect I don’t worry about it and it’s gone.
Clayton: I put all the pressure on myself. I would probably take a loss harder than Ryan would. But I do get over it. I’m the kind of person who takes something that I did poorly and really focus on doing better the next time.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Davies: I have no idea. Hopefully I’ll be working as an engineer, making good money. From there I’ll sort out the rest of my life in terms of having a family and a house. It will be pretty typical, I think. Have a family, get married, settle down and raise some kids. The way my parents raised me, they are both my idols. If I could be like them, that would be the ultimate goal.
Clayton: I’d be really interested in working for a biomedical engineering company, whether it’s doing it myself through a start-up or working for a cool company involved in biomedical research. I’ll be looking to settle down in the 10 years after I’m 28. I’m not necessarily looking for financial fulfilment; I’m more interested in personal fulfilment.
