{"id":92984,"date":"2024-05-23T14:24:26","date_gmt":"2024-05-23T18:24:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=92984"},"modified":"2024-05-23T16:50:43","modified_gmt":"2024-05-23T20:50:43","slug":"brock-grad-student-earns-ministers-award-of-excellence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2024\/05\/brock-grad-student-earns-ministers-award-of-excellence\/","title":{"rendered":"Brock grad student earns Minister’s Award of Excellence"},"content":{"rendered":"

The future is bright for Rakha Zabin. Her vision of a thriving educational landscape for students from all backgrounds is making waves across the province and inspiring the next generation of learners.<\/p>\n

The Educational Studies PhD student recently received a 2022-23 Ontario Minister of Colleges and Universities\u2019 Award of Excellence in the category of Rising Star, which honours graduate students and early career professionals who are making a difference in education, inspiring students or conducting innovative research in the post-secondary education sector.<\/p>\n

Zabin was honoured by Jill Dunlop, Ontario\u2019s Minister of Colleges and Universities, at an event Thursday, May 16 at the First Nations Technical Institute (FNTI) in Deseronto, Ont.<\/p>\n

Brock President and Vice-Chancellor Lesley Rigg commended Zabin for her valuable contributions towards making the University a more inclusive and vibrant place to study and for her groundbreaking research in educational policy and administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough her tireless advocacy, exemplary leadership and innovative teaching and research approaches, Ms. Zabin is not only making an impact here on campus, she is also helping to shape the future of the post-secondary landscape,\u201d said Rigg.<\/p>\n

Over the past six years, Zabin has amplified the voices of Brock grad students through key University student leadership roles, sharing issues of concern and highlighting experiences that make Brock an exceptional place to pursue graduate studies.<\/p>\n

\"Two

Brock PhD in Educational Studies student Rakha Zabin (left) received a 2022-23 Minister\u2019s Award of Excellence from Ontario Minister of Colleges and Universities Jill Dunlop on Thursday, May 16.<\/p><\/div>\n

During her tenure as President of Brock\u2019s Graduate Students\u2019 Association (GSA), Zabin represented the association on Brock\u2019s Senate and Board of Trustees, raising the visibility of the association on campus.<\/p>\n

Zabin is also an active member of Brock\u2019s Strategic Planning Committee and International Strategic Planning Committee.<\/p>\n

When Zabin chose Brock in 2018 to pursue her Master of Education (MEd), leaving her home and family in Bangladesh, she was hopeful the University\u2019s commitment to student engagement and support would ring true.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe care and support I received on campus meant so much to me; I was a person, not a number,” she said. “The way I was valued inspired me to give back to Brock the way it had given so much to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the time she completed her MEd degree, Brock had become her second home, and she knew there was nowhere else she wanted to pursue her PhD.<\/p>\n

Through her doctoral work focused on educational leadership and policy studies, Zabin connects real-world student experiences to institutional, provincial and federal policies in education.<\/p>\n

She aims to make recommendations for educators, policy-makers and administrators in academic leadership that help align policies and their implementation, particularly when it comes to policies related to international graduate student integration.<\/p>\n

Zabin is also dedicated to creating transformative educational experiences as a part-time instructor in the Faculty of Education, where she teaches courses in the Leadership in Community-Based Education Certificate and Canadian Culture and Education Studies Certificate programs.<\/p>\n

Looking forward, she hopes to extend her career in teaching and find her place in the field of academic administration.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on her journey and success, Zabin urged new students to reach out and actively engage in university and broader community initiatives.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnjoy the experience, make new connections and do new things,\u201d she said. \u201cBreaking through the first barrier and reaching out to people makes all the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The future is bright for Rakha Zabin. Her vision of a thriving educational landscape for students from all backgrounds is making waves across the province and inspiring the next generation of learners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":92987,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7484,40,3319,188,55,1,4],"tags":[32,98,607,3335,147,2479,8003,11881,10488],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92984"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92984"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92984\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92997,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92984\/revisions\/92997"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}