A Grade 12 student has returned from an unforgettable education opportunity that gave her a glimpse into university life.
Samantha Martinussen, who is now in Grade 12 at Collège Stonewall Collegiate, had the opportunity to participate in a month-long program offered by Shad Canada this summer. Geared for Grade 10 and 11 students, Shad provides university-level STEAM education (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) plus entrepreneurial exposure to a limited number of students from across Canada.
From June 30 to July 26, Samantha attended Carleton University in Ottawa, where she lived in a dormitory on campus. The program ran seven days per week from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
“The typical day started with breakfast at the campus cafeteria followed by lectures or workshops each morning from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. One of our first lectures was on addiction — how it affects the brain and how social media can be classified as one. We also learned how companies actively target people and exploit the brain’s reward system,” she said.
“Other lectures focused on topics such as the psychology of sociopaths, bioengineering in agriculture, data ethics, a wide variety of different medical technology, bioengineering, renewable energy, statistics and more.”
After lunch, the participants focused on an entrepreneurial design project. Each group needed to address the question of how they might help people in Canada to integrate affordable and reliable green energy sources into their everyday lives to create more sustainable communities.
“My group, Ecohaul, focused on making biofuel processing more efficient by organizing and managing the collection of biowaste to enhance bio-gas production,” she said.
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“Throughout the month, we presented our ideas and business plan to a panel of experts several times to refine our idea.”
Then each day at around 4 p.m., the participants enjoyed structured recreation time.
“During this time, we played physically engaging and team-building games outside or in the sports centre if it got too hot,” Samantha said.
“Following this was supper — a highlight of the day as they had amazing desserts like sticky toffee pudding. Due to our busy days, this was often the best time to talk with each other, go relax in our dorms or to grab something from the convenience store.”
After supper, the Shad students engaged in committee time.
“There were six committees, and I was on the Tunnel Mural team in which our group designed and painted a six-foot by eight-foot mural on the wall of one of the university’s tunnels,” she said.
“We had themed ours around Inside Out 2, with each of the core memory islands being a core memory we had at Shad and the values we upheld, as well as having the emotions being our program assistants, which we had great fun assigning each of them to a character.”
After that, the groups came back together to engage in activities that focused on building relationships, including yoga, murder mysteries, paint nights, talent shows and developing a year-end musical.
“There were also days where we attended workshop and labs. Workshops focused on personal development, the arts and culture including topics such as figure drawing, Filipino culture, virtual reality, media production, African drumming, the Kairos blanket exercise and robotics,” Samantha said.
“Labs focused on activities such as extracting, dissecting and analyzing a mouse brain; salicylic acid purification and recrystallization; building wind turbines; bio mechatronics; researching the human genome; and more.”
Each day ended with “house time” from 9 to 10 p.m. The houses, or the colour groups students were assigned to, engaged in team-building exercises, organized events or just relaxed and played games.
“Afterwards, we had free time in the dorms, and since we were not allowed to go into each other’s rooms, the house common rooms became the hangout spot,” she said. “Walking by and seeing a group of 20 or more playing card games or a round ‘werewolf’ was a daily occurrence, which made many great bonds.”
Everyone had to be in their rooms by 11 p.m. and encouraged to go to bed by midnight. But Samantha and many others stayed up late chatting with roommates or completing last-minute work on their project.
For Samantha, the best part of the experience was the people — everyone from fellow students to program assistants to professors. She also developed a better sense of herself and how she can fit into a different environment.
“I learned a lot about myself, future career options and areas of STEAM that I had not been aware of before. I developed positive and supporting relationships with peers and instructors that I know will help guide my future,” she said.
“As a member of Shad alumni, I will also be exposed to additional future opportunities to continue developing my growth mindset.”
Since she returned home, Samantha has stayed in touch with many new friends she met along the way. Looking ahead, she encourages more students from rural Manitoba to attend the program.
“It gave me an idea of what university will be like. The experience didn’t narrow my focus; in fact, it did the opposite,” she said.
“The exposure to such a wide variety of topics in STEAM broadened my awareness of my future options. It also reinforced different areas that I am interested in such as neurology and neuropsychology.”
When she reflects on the opportunity, Samantha is filled with gratitude for everyone who along the way.
“I would really like to thank the Kinettes and Kinsmen of Stonewall, the Stonewall Independent Order of Oddfellows Lodge #49, the Quarry Choristers, the Interlake School Division and all my friends and family who financially supported my attendance to SHAD. I wouldn’t have been able to take part of this wonderful experience with them.”
The excitement continues for Samantha, who was recently appointed by the minister of Education to the Provincial Student Advisory Council for the third year.
