Mohawk College program for Indigenous students aims to ‘demystify’ post-secondary education

Caroline Hill describes her education journey as wonky."

I never thought I was going to go to college. I didn't graduate high school because I had so much anxiety," she said.

But the Six Nations student eventually found her academic career path, and in April graduated from Mohawk College's mental health and disability certificate program. She also has a diploma in recreation therapy from the college.

Hill, now 25, credits her success in part to the college's Pathfinder Indigenous Youth Program, an overnight experience that focuses on Indigenous culture, identity, leadership skills, and pathways into post-secondary, which she first joined in 2011 in its inaugural year.

After being cancelled in 2020 and hybrid in 2021 amid the pandemic, the Pathfinder program is back in person, with about a dozen students set to start the program later this month.

Students are kind of coming into their first program for the first time," said Amanda White, manager of Indigenous Student Services, which runs the program. This gives a little bit of that college experience before they fully start into their program. They get to stay overnight in the residence to experience what it's like maybe to be away from home."

Six Indigenous undergraduate students recently finished a similar McMaster University program, an eight-week intensive program that aims to prepare undergraduate for graduate studies. Students participate in workshops and Indigenous knowledge sessions, and have the opportunity to pursue a research area of interest with guidance from a supervisor.

At Mohawk, program activities include medicine walks, elder visits, traditional cooking workshops and canoeing on the Grand River. One of this year's highlights is a soapstone carving workshop.

There are assignments and things like that that students have to do, but it doesn't feel like a traditional college class," White said. It feels more like natural ways that we learn and do things."

This could include writing a journal entry or documenting their experience through photography or video.

The summer program is open to students aged 17 to 21 who have graduated or are close to graduating from high school. By participating, they earn a college or dual credit.

And it helps us to build more of a circle of care to support students farther along that educational journey," White said.

Mohawk spokesperson Bill Steinburg said the Pathfinder program is funded through the province and is tuition-free for participants.

While the majority of students come from Six Nations, Mississaugas of the Credit and the Hamilton and Brantford areas, the program also draws students from further afield, White said. In the past, the program has drawn students from places like Barrie and Toronto and, this year, from the Northwest Territories.

About a decade after she first joined the program, Hill is returning this year as a mentor to support incoming students as they get a culturally relevant taste of post-secondary life.

She describes the experience as unexplainable."

I see all of these new Pathfinders, and I see a little bit of myself and each one of them," she said. It's very rewarding to see them transform through the program."

Kate McCullough is an education reporter at The Spectator. kmccullough@thespec.com