1976. Imagine it. No cell phones, no specialty coffee spots on campus, no Gryphon statue. The prime minister was Pierre Trudeau, and the University of Guelph was just 12 years old. There was no internet, no online learning, Apple Computer was only founded that spring.
And Dave Burnett, a self-proclaimed Guelph farm boy, was fresh out of high school.
“It was the generation of rebellion,” he recalls. “None of us followed the recommended path.”
For Burnett, that might just be the ultimate understatement. His path was a winding one that began with enrolling in University of Guelph’s agriculture program of the late ‘70s, followed by alcohol addiction and recovery, hitting pause on school, focusing on marriage and kids, then a divorce and remarriage.
He worked for a time as a miller and then for a stretch managing corporate farms before starting his own accounting business. But he never let U of G go entirely.
Popping in and out of campus when he could, accumulating credits while navigating a life that also dealt him ongoing health challenges including a bout with skin cancer, a stroke and then two years ago, a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease.
Convocation with the Class of 2025
And now, 49 years after he began his Bachelor of Science (Agriculture), Burnett has completed his degree and will receive his diploma as he graduates with the Class of 2025.
Among the sea of proud parents and families will be two of Burnett’s daughters and his wife who will watch him cross the stage, joining two other U of G grads in the family.
“There was no grand plan,” he says. “I just took it one course at a time, one assignment at a time.” Still, as the years went on, completing his degree became a bucket list item.
“Somewhere along the way, I became convinced of the wisdom of lifelong learning,” he says, propelled by a mentor who encouraged him with the idea of what an education can do for self-confidence.
‘My jeans are older than most of you’
Early on, Burnett’s schedule looked like classes early in the morning, followed by an AA meeting, back to campus for afternoon labs, a break for some dinner and then to the library to study in the evenings.
In the ‘90s he remembers sitting down in a biochemistry classroom, looking around and thinking: “My jeans are older than most of the people here.”
For a student who began when lessons were given on wooden-framed rotating chalkboards, then overhead projectors and now online, Burnett has seen some changes over his nearly five decades in and out of academia.
“The Guelph experience has been incredibly positive,” he says. “At U of G, what you’re learning about is research that has contemporary relevance, not something from 25 years ago.”
OAC support inspires ‘ambitious’ research project
When Burnett turned 65, he learned that he was eligible for a tuition waiver. With the assistance of program counsellors, he re-registered and began again slowly, with applied animal science courses.
Ontario Agricultural College professors, such as Dr. Joshua Nasielski, in the Department of Plant Agriculture, had a profound impact on his experience, he says, where small class sizes meant everyone was on a first-name basis.
“The whole class respected Dave,” Nasielski says. “He always brought energy and humour to class and students often joked that he was the class clown. Dave was willing to share lessons from his years of real-world experience as a farm accountant with the class, which was a huge asset. He must be one of the only undergraduate students to deliver a guest lecture for a class that he was enrolled in.”
Nasielski still uses some of the teaching materials Burnett developed when covering the financial aspects of crop production. Nasielski was also Burnett’s advisor for his independent research project, which he describes as an “ambitious” look at sulfur and nitrogen uptake in different wheat cultivars. That work enabled Burnett to work with Indigenous communities for the first time, an experience he says led him to a new understanding of the way the world works.
“Dave is an unconventional thinker who I learned a lot from,” Nasielski says. “His passion and drive were inspiring.”
Burnett was hoping his project would land him a mark of at least 65%; he received a 90%.
If he had more time on his hands, he says he would pursue a graduate degree.
“There’s not enough years in the timeline,” he chuckles. “I’m still getting my head around the fact that I’m done.”
Discover more about the inspiring journeys of our graduates and how the University of Guelph shaped their paths