Cambrian student to receive provincial award

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She has been president of the Cambrian Native Student's Association (CNSA) at Cambrian College in Sudbury for two consecutive terms and has developed many innovative initiatives to improve the quality of student life for Aboriginal students, but second year nursing student Cheri Corbiere has never been presented with a provincial award before.

The 34-year-old from Sheshegwaning First Nation located on Manitoulin Island will receive the Student Innovation Award through the Association of Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology of Ontario (ACAATO). Introduced in 2001, awards recognize individuals, organizations and volunteers who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of Ontario's colleges of applied arts and technology. The award will be presented to Corbiere on Feb. 20 at the 2006 ACAATO conference in Sudbury.

"I'm very honored mostly because I think that it's very important that the college recognizes our efforts and what we're doing as CNSA for the Aboriginal students," Corbiere said.

"I view this award as a compliment and a credit to the ways of the Anishinabek people because that's where I get all my values and beliefs from, so that's how I guide myself as the president of CNSA. I think we play an important role here at CNSA to make sure that the rest of the students have a successful academic and social experience while attending Cambrian."

Corbiere said most Aboriginal youth lack the confidence to attend college or university, primarily because they are not encouraged to do so. Once the students arrive at the post-secondary level, they seem to struggle either academically or socially.

That's why Corbiere will make herself available when she is not in class to address the needs of the students.

"If I make myself available and I'm approachable to the students then they feel comfortable with me then it's kind of like role modeling the teachings that I learned from my mother and grandmother of respect and humility and really taking the time to understand them," said Corbiere. "I try to role model positive behaviors."

Her values and beliefs obtained from her family have led her to organize and establish many events, activities and initiatives. She worked to create a First Nation student food bank, introduced cultural teachings on campus and developed a sacred medicine protocol. The college board of governors passed the protocol in the fall of 2005, enabling CNSA and students to practice the use of medicines within the college.

"With this protocol in place, it kind of sets the future for all Aboriginal students that come here," said Corbiere. "The college board of directors and the executive are in big support of the use of sacred medicines. They endorsed it and they encouraged me to continue with it."

Corbiere is also involved in the student services division of Cambrian College and with the Wabnode Institute, another organization within the college that assists students with employment and academic needs. She is also a member of the Anishnaabe Affairs Advisory Committee and assists in many other events such as the annual Native Awareness Days.

Corbiere's dedication to supporting and encouraging Aboriginal students goes beyond the walls of Cambrian. During last year's March study break, she visited the high schools in Wikwemikong and M'Chigeeng on Manitoulin to share her college experiences as well as to encourage the students to strive for higher education.

"I remember when I was in high school, all I heard was, 'You can't do that,' and they made college sound like this big scary place," said Corbiere. "I talked to the students about what to expect at the post-secondary level and how they can be successful and that there are different support systems to make this happen for you."

Corbiere admitted that she wasn't the best student in high school.

"I struggled through high school because I got mixed up in the wrong peer groups," said Corbiere. "I tell studets about my experiences in school just to give them maybe a sense of hope. I tell them that if you struggle through high school or if you walked down the wrong road, there is still hope for you. You can get back."

Corbiere stressed that if students are struggling through secondary school or even through post-secondary, they should know that there are services available to them and they should access them.

"Some students may struggle with addictions or learning disabilities but I make it a point to let them know that if you work hard and you try and reach out for help then you can be successful," said Corbiere. "I think sometimes they just try one or two people and then give up, so I really encourage them to look around."

Corbiere believes that it was her efforts to reach out to high school students in particular that helped in the nomination process.

"Through her visit to Manitoulin, it really told me that I was dealing with an outstanding leader and an outstanding student," said Betty Freelandt, vice-president of student services and strategic initiatives at Cambrian, who nominated Corbiere for the Student Innovation Award. "I think it takes a risk to be sharing your own stories with others, especially when your stories have some trials and tribulations along the road. And she was willing to do that because she's continuing to advocate for the students to be successful on campus."

One of Corbiere's current projects is advocating to have an Ojibway Elder on campus. There is currently a Cree Elder on campus, but the Cree and Ojibway teachings are a bit different, "so we are trying to meet the need of everybody," Corbiere said.

"We are trying to create more awareness about the Aboriginal culture within the college for faculty and students. We also worked to bring in a lot of non-Aboriginal students into our area to come and learn about our culture and there is a visible increase. We really try to create awareness and to let them know that they are wlcome here. We want them to come and to learn about us and we want to share."

According to Freelandt, Corbiere is always coming up with suggestions and ideas related to student retention and improving services that the college administration had not considered.

"She challenges not only administrative practices and policies that we have on campus but she challenges another student council that we have here, Student Administrative Council (SAC)," said Freelandt. "She shares resources with them, she continues to work cooperatively with them but also challenges them in some of their thinking, and I think that's important."

The choice to nominate Corbiere wasn't a hard decision, Freelandt said. Her efforts on behalf of Aboriginal students also impressed the panel of judges whose job it was to selected this year's award recipients.

"It came across very clearly, that they see her as an outstanding student who had come up with a lot of innovative ideas and that's what makes her an exceptional leader," said Freelandt. "I think I've been very fortunate to get to know and work with Cheri as the president of our CNSA."

Upon graduation of the four-year nursing program from Cambrian College in Sudbury, Corbiere plans to move back to her hometown and continue her work as a health representative.