Kaitlin Klaas

For Mariajosé López Mejía, who’s graduating with a degree in equity studies, working to improve the lives of other people has been a lifelong passion — but until she attended U of T, she didn’t realize it could also be her career.

“I always wanted to go to the University of Toronto,” said López Mejía. “I thought I wanted to study international relations, and then I read through the equity studies program description and thought, ‘This sounds a lot like me.’”

It’s not surprising López Mejía recognized herself in the equity studies’ mandate, which focuses on social justice in local and global contexts. Growing up in Colombia, López Mejía collected clothes, food and other necessities for natural disaster relief. After moving to Toronto in 2007, she continued her community-building efforts by helping to coordinate intercultural events, raising funds and food for local charities and mentoring newcomers to Canada.

She credits equity studies with teaching her the skills and knowledge necessary to move beyond what she modestly calls “a more superficial level” of community building to instead help create meaningful systemic change.

“Throughout my studies I’ve explored how a lot of social programs are just patchwork,” said López Mejía. “They are not addressing power imbalances. They are not redistributing wealth. And they’re not challenging oppressive systems to the core — racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism.

“I still believe frontline services are important,” she continued. “You have to make sure there is an emergency network, because people need services now. And as I’ve come to learn through my studies, shaking these systems will take a lot of time, power and effort.”

During her time at U of T, López Mejía, who is also graduating with minors in political science and diaspora and transnational studies, took advantage of many opportunities to expand her studies beyond the classroom, both locally and globally.

She completed a community-engaged learning placement at the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace, served on the Equity Studies Student Union executive team and was heavily involved with the Centre for Community Partnerships, first as an alternative reading week participant and later as a project leader and work-study student. (Read more about the Centre for Community Partnerships at U of T)

López Mejía also learned about indigeneity and food sustainability through New College’s Belize experiential-learning program. López Mejía, who had studied food sovereignty and security extensively in equity studies, said the program was an ideal complement.

“For me, to go to Belize and meet Indigenous people who produce food for themselves and for fair trade export was the perfect circle,” she said. “I’ve learned it, I’ve now seen it and I understand the implications.”

Belize was not López Mejía’s only globe-trotting academic experience; she also studied abroad in Paris, where she learned about prostitution and human trafficking, and in the Balkans, where she studied the history and politics of former Yugoslavia and conducted field research about the role of rape as a tool for ethnic cleansing in the Balkan Wars.

Upon returning to Toronto, she supported local counter-human-trafficking efforts as a research assistant at the FCJ Refugee Centre through New College’s independent community-engaged learning seminar.

These experiences gave López Mejía a body of knowledge that proved very useful for her coursework — and vice versa.

“During community-engaged learning, you bring your studies to the work site, and you bring to your studies what you’ve learned through your experiences,” said López Mejía. “One of my final papers was about human trafficking of Indigenous women and labour trafficking through federally-sponsored migration programs. I didn’t learn about that in class — I learned it through my research at FCJ. And my theoretical knowledge gave me a really good platform for my research.”

López Mejía said her community-building experiences taught her lessons she could not have learned in the classroom.

“I think community-engaged learning is so important because you need to know yourself in other spheres of life,” she said. “Academics are really important, but ultimately we’re all going to move on to real life.”

For López Mejía, “real life” includes plans to work in social justice and later complete graduate studies in welfare management — in Sweden, if all goes well. And as of this month, she is serving on the youth-oriented sister committee of METRAC’s Toronto Safe City Committee, which will work to determine safety changes and initiatives to prevent and reduce violence against women and vulnerable populations in the city.

López Mejía said her experiences at U of T and beyond have given her hope for the future and affirmed to her that she is on the right career path.

“We need to recognize that inequity does exist and is affecting many of us,” said López Mejía. “The more people who work towards changing that, the easier it will be.”

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Promoting volunteerism, helping students excel: New College leadership program

sgupta — Fri, 22 Aug 2014 13:22:59 +0000

Promoting volunteerism, helping students excel: New College leadership program sgupta Fri, 08/22/2014 - 09:22

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Yasmine Abdelaal (left) volunteered in Toronto public schools (photo by Steph Verschuren)

Liz Do

Kaitlin Klaas with files from Liz Do

Kaitlin Klaas

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Kaitlin Klaas with files from Liz Do

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Leadership Certificate Program looks to enhance students’ co-curricular record and academic abilities

With September just around the corner, balancing academic and volunteer commitments will once again become a way of life for many U of T students.

With this in mind, New College has revamped its Leadership Certificate Program, to ensure students have the skills they need to excel at both.

Created in 2009, the free program combines leadership workshops with community volunteerism. Not only do students get the opportunity to learn to be effective leaders, they have the chance to contribute to the community, and learn how to market their experiences to potential graduate schools and employers.

“The revised composition of the Leadership Certificate Program is far more student-friendly,” says Jill Charnaw-Burger, assistant director, Student Life and Leadership. “It’s tailored to student needs and schedules. It accommodates both those who live on campus and those who commute. It helps students grow their co-curricular record and resumé while not taking anything away from their first priority, which is their education. In fact, the intention is to enhance and boost their academic abilities.”

Traditionally, the program had provided general-purpose leadership development workshops for all New College students. New this September, based on student feedback, a second stream has been added for those who are already active volunteer leaders. (Think: orientation volunteers, student council members and student club and course union executives.)

To make it easier for busy students to attend and complete the program, the sessions will be condensed into a single workshop offered multiple times a year. The workshop will focus on teaching the leadership skills and knowledge students need to navigate the challenges of their particular volunteer positions, as well as relate those skills to their academic work.

One constant from years past: students will still need to give at least 10 hours of their time to the community, either at New College or beyond. That aspect of the program has been consistently popular with students.

Yasmine Abdelaal, a third-year student who is pursuing a double major in neuroscience and cell & molecular biology, received her Leadership Certificate in March. Abdelaal earned her requisite community hours by volunteering for Supporting Education, Empowerment, and Development through Science (S.E.E.D.S.). Through S.E.E.D.S., she helped run an eight-week-long program at two Toronto public schools which covered mental, physical and oral health as well as nutrition.

"My experience in [the Leadership Certificate Program] not only developed my leadership skills but also helped me to boost my confidence and self-esteem,” Abdelaal says. “All the workshops I attended pinpointed strengths I didn’t realize [I had]. Now, I feel more confident during presentations, while interacting with other team members and when applying to medical school.”

The program is also introducing a new annual leadership and professional development conference: You Beyond New. Geared to students who are interested in leadership opportunities but haven’t yet found their niche, it will also allow seasoned student leaders to lead sessions and share their knowledge with their peers.

Iulia Sandru, a third-year Life Sciences student who also received her Certificate this spring, echoed Abdelaal’s sentiments.

“This program helped me understand [who] I am and what I can do,” says Sandru, who volunteered as an assistant leader at Scouts Canada. “The skills I am learning both at Scouts and in this program go hand in hand and make me realize what leadership means to me and how I can be a good and effective leader.”

Sandru says the workshops helped prepare her for her future career – and Charnaw-Burger hopes that will be the experience of the more than 160 students who are expected to participate in the program this year.

"We want to ensure our graduates are well-rounded, employable emerging leaders,” says Charnaw-Burger. “With a U of T degree in hand, combined with leadership experience from this program, we are well on our way to securing their futures.”

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