From a young age, Joel Desjardine has been fascinated with the design of roads, bridges and anything to do with transportation. He says his addiction to infrastructure was aided by his home computer.
“I would go into Photoshop, scan maps and use Photoshop to condense what was from a highway to a freeway and try to draw in interchanges,” explains Joel.
Joel’s childhood hobby became a fulltime career as a transportation technologist in the Calgary office of Stantec, a large corporation providing professional consulting in a wide range of fields.
His designs are created from his wheelchair as Joel has cerebral palsy.
When Joel was in the fifth grade, his parents were told he'd always struggle with math-based work. Joel would not allow the medical experts to quash his dreams of road design. He remained determined to make his dreams come true despite the challenges he faced.
“I managed to, over the years, overcome the challenges all through my grade school and high school,” recalls Joel. “Being at SAIT and then coming (to Stantec), (is) kind of my dream job.”
Jason Ashwin, Joel's supervisor at Stantec, says Joel's attitude and work ethic are inspirational.
“He's always curious about why things are working the way they are and how he can improve and what he can do to help the team,” said Jason. “It's a joy to work with him because that's the type of people that we look for. He's just a great team player and great work ethic.”
Joel successfully balances work and play as a defenceman for the Calgary Scorpions sledge hockey team, a club he joined nearly 12 years ago when he was a 14-year-old.
For illustrating the power of determination, Joel Desjardine is this week’s Inspiring Albertan.
With files from CTV's Darrel Janz
