Editor’s Note: As we celebrate Mi’kmaq History Month in October, we’re proud to spotlight some of our own people, Indigenous culture, contributions and history.
Lance Bright, a fourth year Schwartz School of Business student from Whycocomagh, NS, who is majoring in management and leadership and minoring in sociology, has had a very successful four years as a StFX student. Mr. Bright is a recent scholarship award recipient, he has been a research assistant on projects with faculty in the StFX Rankin School of Nursing and with StFX Faculty of Education, and this year he is serving as an Indigenous Student Mentor.
As he completes his senior year at StFX, Mr. Bright says he is looking towards a career in human resources in training and development.
So far, he says the experience has been amazing. “I have made so many achievements and had a lot of amazing academic opportunities here that I would have never thought I would have. I was able to develop personally and academically throughout my years here and can say that these were the best four years of my life so far.”
Mr. Bright says the campus environment drew him initially to StFX. He had attended a few track meets in junior and high school “and the campus was too beautiful that I couldn’t stay away.”
He wasn’t certain what he wanted to after high school, so he started looking at programs and ended up on the Schwartz School of Business page. “The class sizes and the hands-on learning is what made me the most excited about coming here. I personally love learning by doing and I had the opportunity to do so with the business labs and simulations we did in those classes. The first two years of the business program gave me a lot of opportunity to explore and find out what stream I wanted to do before declaring my major at the end of second year, which helped me find something that I love doing.”
WORK IN HUMAN RESOURCES
At the moment, his plan is to work in human resources in training and development. “I think that it is important to have a healthy work environment and though this type of work, I could help other employees develop their skills. I just had my first HR experience over the summer working for Public Services and Procurement Canada and had a good time working for them. Currently I moved to a different department under Indigenous Affairs and hoping to have the same experiences.”
He has also been a research assistant in two projects with Dr. Cathy MacDonald, StFX Rankin School of Nursing faculty.
“The first one I did last year was the “Walking Together: Supporting Indigenous Student Success in University.” This project had me interviewing current Indigenous StFX students from different communities all around Atlantic Canada and learning about their experience, success, and troubles that they have had here.
REMOVING BARRIERS TO HELP STUDENTS SUCCEED
“The one that I am working on currently is the “Walking in Two Worlds: Indigenous Students Path to Success in Undergraduate Education,” where I will be interviewing current and past Paqtnkek students on their experiences here. Our goal for this project is to understand the quality of supports we have at StFX that are available to Indigenous students. With both of these projects, we hope to find the barriers to success that Indigenous students have experienced and fix them so that they can succeed at StFX.”
Mr. Bright says as an Indigenous person, he didn’t have a close connection to his Indigenous culture and never got into exploring it. After hearing about these research projects, he thought it would be a good idea to get involved and learn about everyone’s experiences as an Indigenous student as StFX. “So, this experience has definitely brought me closer to my own culture.”
He is currently working as an Indigenous Student Mentor for the year. “Our goal is to help other Indigenous students on campus find the supports that they need and help them succeed here. As a senior, I also get the chance to pass the tips I have learned throughout my years here and hopefully make a difference in their experience and success.”
He has also worked as a research assistant with StFX education professor Dr. Lisa Lunney Borden on her Connecting Math to our Lives and Communities outreach program. “Here I had the opportunity to teach math to students in nearby Indigenous and Black communities by connecting it back to our respective cultures and making connections within our culture to better understand the math.”
CIBC ACHIEVERS AWARD
He is also the recent recipient of the $10,000 CIBC Achievers Award and Mr. Bright says he is thankful for StFX “because that was made possible from the experiences and success that I have had here.”
Growing up as Mi’kmaq person, he says he noticed that year after year the culture and history has been slowly going away. “I think it is important that we shine a spotlight on the culture and history, because it prevents us from losing it. As I talked to people on campus over the years, some of them didn’t even know that there was Indigenous people that go here. Some other Indigenous students that came from outside of Atlantic Canada didn’t even know about the events that are held to celebrate Indigenous and Mi’kmaq people.”
LEARNING FROM INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
Learning from Indigenous people would be his best recommendation for those who want to know more and educate themselves. “We have Elders who have passed on knowledge from past decades on the history of Indigenous peoples and it is always the best to learn from the people who have lived it.”
Overall, Mr. Bright says he thinks StFX has been making some great progress towards Reconciliation. “During my first year, there was not that much representation on campus for Indigenous students as there is now. The past couple years, the representation has grown significantly, especially this year with the Peer Mentors program. I would definitely like to see the Peer Mentor program continue every year, as this has giving us more opportunities to connect with other Indigenous students and create a bigger community even with non-Indigenous students.”
