My family and I lived in Montreal East. On a rare foray west of Saint-Laurent Boulevard separating east and west Montreal, we were driving along Sherbrooke Street when my dad stopped the car and pointed out the window. “These are the Roddick Gates,” he said. “Behind them is McGill University, the best in Canada. It’s not for us. It’s just beyond our means.” I was about 12 at the time. I remember thinking, “Oh, yeah? Just watch me,” – a statement later borrowed by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. I had just received my first life lesson from McGill: ambitious goal setting.
With the money from summer jobs, bursaries, government loans and decent grades, I became a proud student at the School of Commerce. My vision of the world exploded overnight. Most of the students were not Roman Catholics. Not that we were very religious, but I had never met anyone who was not from that persuasion. That was a shocker. There was a plethora of students from Commonwealth countries, many of which I had never heard of before. I vividly remember being next to a student from Ghana experiencing snowflakes on his face for the first time. He was awestruck. Very quickly, McGill expanded my horizons and stoked my lifelong quest to conquer the planet, meet its occupants and experience different cultures. At that time, I had only flown twice – to New York and back. Now, I have completed over 1,919 flights. I am a Certified Professional Accountant. We count things.
McGill gave me confidence, taught me perseverance, discipline, integrity and respect for others. It taught me to shoot high and seize the moments – Carpe Diem. Because I was the first member of the family to graduate from university, it opened the door to others who followed in my footsteps.
McGill groomed me well for the real world; you know, the one where you need to work for a living. The crème de la crème of the accounting firms at the time was Touche Ross Bailey & Smart, now Deloitte, but they only hired the best. “Just watch me!” I was admitted to partnership a dozen years later and had a very rewarding career. I started there on the last day before my twentieth birthday and retired 43 years later. Thank you, McGill, for opening that door.
Propelled by the McGill launching pad, I was able to accomplish much in the business and professional world, as did most of my graduating class colleagues. At Deloitte, I was an Audit Partner and managed our relationship with a number of publicly traded, domestic and international clients. I assumed several management roles in the Canadian firm, enjoyed a stint in management of the Caribbean and was elected to the Deloitte Board of Directors by my partners for eight years. It was a great run. But, as noted above, McGill also fueled my desire for exotic cultural and natural experiences and passion for the natural world. This led to experiences such as:
- a juvenile silverback Mountain Gorilla tugging at my jeans during a trek in Rwanda,
- climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania with my teenage son,
- dugout canoeing on the Sepik River of Papua New Guinea,
- singeing my forehead with the heat of the lava flow from an Etna volcanic eruption in Sicily,
- a curious Chinstrap Penguin pecking at my boot on Deception Island, Antarctica,
- dancing with an elder and former head-hunter of the Iban community in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, who insisted on showing me the fruits of his victories,
- sharing a bowl of fermented yak’s milk with a Mongolian family in the Gobi Desert,
- eyeballing Moai statues on Easter Island, Chile.
My appreciation for the natural world led to a passion for birds and a desire to see as many as possible of the species that inhabit our world. Of course, I looked far and wide for a most-wanted bird, the famous martlet. It was a downer of some proportion when I learned it was a mythical bird. It does not exist and never did. So, I am stuck a while at 5,263 lifebirds because of the pandemic. I am also stuck at 118 countries. Travel and birding have enriched my life and that of my family.
As they say at the Oscars, I would not have had such a successful career without the enduring and essential support of my wife of 50 years, Michelle, and my two wonderful children, Chantal and Alex, as well as my dear mom and dad who understood the importance of higher education.
Had access to some funding not been possible prior to and during my years at McGill, I would not have been able to attend. Most of this story would be a blank page. This realization made me appreciate how crucial it is to have such access. I am very proud to be doing my small part through the Calderoni Family Entrance Bursary which was created in 2020.
My wife and I were driving past Roddick Gates a few years back with our grandchildren in the back seat. I told them that behind these gates is McGill University, the best university in Canada, and you can go there.
McGill University made me. Going there is one of the best things that happened to me. Let it happen to you.