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.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.