{"id":94000,"date":"2024-06-17T16:55:53","date_gmt":"2024-06-17T20:55:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=94000"},"modified":"2024-06-18T09:27:52","modified_gmt":"2024-06-18T13:27:52","slug":"bonds-of-friendship-helped-strengthen-indigenous-identities-of-new-grads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2024\/06\/bonds-of-friendship-helped-strengthen-indigenous-identities-of-new-grads\/","title":{"rendered":"Bonds of friendship helped strengthen Indigenous identities of new grads"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kaitlyn Austin (BSc ’24) and Evelyn Dilworth (BA ’24, BEd ’24) became instant friends when they met in residence in 2018.<\/p>\n

Both have First Nations ancestry, but neither had extensive knowledge of their Indigenous culture at the time. Six years later, their understanding has grown significantly, and they have each other to thank for it.<\/p>\n

The pair learned about the Hadiya\u2019dag\u00e9nhahs First Nations, M\u00e9tis and Inuit Student Centre during Welcome Week. They discovered a mutual interest in becoming involved and agreed to lean on each other for support.<\/p>\n

\"A

Kaitlyn Austin (BSc \u201824) graduated from Brock\u2019s Medical Sciences program on June 12 during the University\u2019s 115th Convocation.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cLooking back, I\u2019m so glad we did this together,\u201d says Austin. \u201cA lot of my fondest memories are at Hadiya\u2019dag\u00e9nhahs, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic when we connected online regularly to talk with the staff, Elders and other students.\u201d<\/p>\n

Austin, a member of Six Nations of the Grand River, came to Brock for medical sciences. But, her first year took a rough turn when she experienced a concussion shortly before mid-terms that resulted in her withdrawing from classes for the remainder of the year.<\/p>\n

Despite not being enrolled, Austin stayed in residence because her care team of doctors and therapists were on campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would not have had the same access to care at home,\u201d says Austin. \u201cI was seen by all Brock doctors and accessed the Sports Medicine clinic on campus.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Austin restarted the next fall, she was advised to come back at a slower pace and register with Student Accessibility Services (SAS). This enabled her to get support with exams, note taking and reaching out to professors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe support I received from SAS was so important because the accommodations provided me with extra time to comprehend questions,\u201d she says. \u201cGaining access to the Glean App helped make note taking easier and I didn\u2019t have to struggle to keep up in lectures.\u201d<\/p>\n

That same year, Austin began volunteering more at Hadiya\u2019dag\u00e9nhahs. This led to several professional development opportunities including, an internship with the Office of the Vice-Provost, Indigenous Engagement, followed by jobs at Hadiya\u2019dag\u00e9nhahs as a Peer Educator and as an Advisor and Recruiter, her current role.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough these roles, I\u2019ve had a lot of opportunities to connect with my culture and learn new things like crafting,\u201d says Austin. \u201cI also completed a minor in Indigenous studies that deepened my understanding of residential schools.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A

Evelyn Dilworth (BA \u201924, BEd \u201824) graduated from Brock\u2019s Concurrent Teacher Education program on June 13 during Brock\u2019s 115th Convocation.<\/p><\/div>\n

Dilworth, a Mohawk connected to Tyendinaga and Six Nations, came to Brock for the Concurrent Teacher Education program and also minored in Indigenous Studies.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was encouraged to become a teacher by my Nana,\u201d says Dilworth, a Peer Educator with Hadiya\u2019dag\u00e9nhahs. \u201cShe was thrilled when I chose Brock because it meant I would be able to stay close to my family in Burlington.\u201d<\/p>\n

By her second year, Dilworth was actively involved in Hadiya\u2019dag\u00e9nhahs and was taking an Indigenous Studies course. When the instructor gave the class an assignment that required attendance at a local event of their choice, Dilworth seized the opportunity to engage with the local Indigenous community. Joined by Austin, the pair saw the traditional women\u2019s hand drum group Strong Water Singers perform. The two went on to become members of the group.<\/p>\n

To meet her degree requirements, Dilworth completed two practicum placements within the Six Nations School Board, where she worked with grades six through eight, and was inspired to enroll in Mohawk language classes.<\/p>\n

\u201cExploring my Indigeneity at university was a fun journey,\u201d she says. \u201cI didn\u2019t focus on my Indigenous culture growing up and was nervous to go into community alone. I\u2019m grateful Kaitlyn and I went to things together. We met many likeminded people and grew together.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kaitlyn Austin (BSc \u201824) and Evelyn Dilworth (BA \u201924, BEd \u201824) became instant friends when they met in residence in 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":94001,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[36,40,6833,1],"tags":[96,327,156,480,32,3258,5541,12622,12040,9053,4226,761,1759,13608,5878,111],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94000"}],"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\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94000"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94000\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94008,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94000\/revisions\/94008"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}