Aboriginal role model overcomes barriers to success

When Sheila Cote-Meek was a young girl growing up in Temagami, she felt she couldn't succeed.

The granddaughter of a residential school survivor, Cote-Meek faced extreme racism and bullying, and saw signs everywhere that Aboriginal people didn't finish school or move onto post-secondary education.

When she was in Grade 8, though, she had a teacher that instilled in her a belief that she could achieve much more academically.

Cote-Meek went on to get her nursing degree, and later a master's of business administration and a PhD in sociology and equity studies.

For the past decade, she's been the associate vice-president of academic and indigenous programs at Laurentian University. She holds one of the most senior academic posts of any Aboriginal person in Ontario.

Cote-Meek is also one of 13 Aboriginal role models chosen for the Council of Academic Universities' Let's Take Our Future Further Campaign.

The campaign aims to celebrate the achievements and contributions of Aboriginal leaders and alumni at Ontario universities and to encourage current students to continue to pursue and complete their studies.

“There are more than 6,500 Aboriginal learners at Ontario universities and thousands of Aboriginal alumni who are contributing to Ontario's social, cultural and economic well-being,” said Jonathan Hamilton-Diabo, chair of the COU working group responsible for the initiative.

“We want Ontarians to celebrate that success and, now, Aboriginal learners who have blazed their own trail at university are encouraging others to do the same.”

Cote-Meek said she feels privileged to be featured in the campaign. She said one of her career goals has been to make other Aboriginal people feel welcome at university.

“We all know about the stories of residential schools, and the impact it had on that generation and subsequent generations,” she said.

“My grandfather went to the Spanish Residential School. There's a lot of hesitancy in our families to go to school because there's mistrust about what's going to happen.

“So my goal in going back and finishing a PhD was to look for ways to make universities a better place for indigenous students, so when they come to these kinds of places, they feel welcome.”

Amy Shawanda, who's set to graduate with her master's degree in indigenous relations from Laurentian in June, is also one of the 13 role models featured in the campaign.

The native of Wikwemikong on Manitoulin Island said she had great role models in her mother, who has a college degree, and her sister, who also has a master's degree.

A single mother, Shawanda said she also wants to be a role model for her son.

“On the sleepless nights and days I’ve cried, I have looked at my son and realized that I’m doing this for him,” she said in a biography included on the initiative's website.

Upon her graduation from Laurentian, Shawanda plans to continue her education, working towards her PhD at Trent University. She ultimately wants to change policies that affect Aboriginal people.

For example, for her master's degree, she's studying the policies that restrict smudging in health facilities in northeastern Ontario.

“Post-secondary education has had a huge impact on my life – it is where my healing journey began,” Shawanda said on the Future Further website.

“It helped me to find my identity, cultural teachings, and a connection to my language. It has also given me a great support system that has allowed me to teach my child about the traditional Anishinaabe way of life.

“Pursue your passion in life and transform your future – if you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it.”