Building confidence of Indigenous post-secondary learners

A program at Cambrian College is helping prepare Indigenous students as they consider post-secondary education.

The Indigenous Learner Transition Program is part of a three-year research project to help students gain confidence and feel encouraged to pursue post-secondary education.

The program was developed at Cambrian and funded through the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

"A lot of times our Indigenous learners would come to campus and only be here for a week or two and then they would go back to their communities and that is really backed up by research," said Janice Clarke, dean of the school of justice, community service and general studies at Cambrian College.

"Indigenous students experience high levels of stress, mostly because they are moving away from their community and the relocation is really stressful."

Winter Visitor is from the Wemindji First Nation, a small community on the east coast of James Bay. She will start her first year at Cambrian College this September but is in Sudbury early taking part in the Indigenous Learner Transition Program.

"I am finding a sense of myself and also my culture, as well," said Winer.

"I can also pass along the teaching that I am learning here, as well. So I like to also learn and also share."

Kailey O'Bumsewin is a mentor in the program. She took it last year as she prepared to enter her first year of nursing at Cambrian.

"College can be a lot of stress because of the academic side and then, like, we have full moon ceremonies, which is like releasing the stress and stuff. So that really helped me manage (to) balance college life," said O'Bumsewin.

The medicine wheel is a big focus of the program.

"Understand the differences between the physical, the spiritual, the mental and the all-encompassing balance that comes from working your wheel on a daily basis," said James Tregonning, coordinator of the program.

"So taking that way of life and putting it into practise."

The program was launched in August of 2021. So far, 42 Indigenous learners from across Canada have taken part with many pursuing post-secondary education.