Final-year Community Social Services (CSS) student Nathania Ebegbare was heading down the stairs on campus when she stopped in her tracks. There it was – an email with her first grad school acceptance from the University of Toronto.
She literally shouted with excitement, happily recalling that people nearby heard her stopped and stared; but that didn’t matter in the moment because she was overjoyed. Immediately, she made her way to her mentor, CSS Chair Dr. Olivia Boukydis office to share the great news. For Nathania, this was just one of many possibilities for her future as she chases her dreams to one day work in public policy – a dream that was nurtured at U of GH.
“It was definitely a huge moment,” Nathania remembered. “I felt humbled.”
Dreams of a bright future
The University of Toronto is one of several graduate programs she was accepted into; Nathania was also accepted into Toronto Metropolitan University and the prestigious Cornell University in New York, making her one of the first U of GH students to be accepted into an Ivy League institution. This is a testament to her achievements and work ethic, but also to the strong support provided by the CSS program to students.
While the next steps in her academic journey remain undecided, Nathania knows that she wants a career where she can make a difference in the lives of youth through policy, perhaps as a government relations specialist or a research analyst, and maybe one day, starting a non-profit charity.
“I want to be where I can help out the most,” she said.
Before attending Guelph-Humber, Nathania enrolled in a college legal assistant program in her hometown of Winnipeg. That’s where she gained experience working in family law, which made her realize that she enjoys working with youth. Debating on becoming a lawyer, she enrolled in a law program at the University of Manitoba. However, with some soul-searching, she discovered it wasn’t law she was passionate about; it was working with families.
This is when she packed her bags to move to Toronto, where she transferred to U of GH’s CSS program – a pivot that she said “worked perfectly.” Here, she specialized in the “youth and families” area.
Finding herself at U of GH
At first, coming to Guelph-Humber was challenging. As a transfer student, she entered the program when many of her peers were in their second year, already having formed friendships. She also wasn’t very outspoken in the classroom, being a quiet person. But she overcame these challenges in spades through getting involved in the U of GH community, where she gained the confidence to speak out, be a leader, and made lifelong friendships.
“I feel like I found myself in the CSS program. I feel like I didn't really know what to do initially,” Nathania said. “I changed my mindset towards a lot of things.”
Outside the classroom, Nathania contributed to the vibrant fibres of the Guelph-Humber community through extracurricular activities, quickly becoming a vital part of what makes the institution special – the student body and its scholarly activities.
In fall 2024, she joined The Soka Education Research Centre on Global Citizenship (SERC-GC) as a research assistant, led by Dr. Paul Sherman, who was the CSS Chair at the time (now retired). Here, she worked with her peers to conduct research on nuclear disarmament and peace education, and even worked remotely with high school students from Kansai Soka High School in Japan, known as a collaborative online international learning experience (COIL). Her participation in SERC-GC also brought her and the group across the world to Japan this past winter to visit the high school students they worked with online in Osaka, where the research assistants presented their research.
“There’s always something to learn in every new experience. That's why I try out new things; you never know what could happen from it,” she said of SERC-GC. “I feel like that's been very life changing and transformative for me in the past year because I've done so much…Everything in life can be a rewarding experience [if you try].”
Through this experience, Nathania gained a meaningful understanding of what it takes to conduct research, which is vital ahead of graduate school’s research demands. She worked with her fellow research assistants to explore peace education in Ontario (or lack thereof) and why it would be beneficial to add this component to school curriculums in the province.
Furthermore, as an aspiring public policy professional, Nathania took the opportunity to be a student advocate representing Guelph-Humber on the University of Guelph Senate. U of GH students who sit on the senate provide valuable insights to help shape academic programs, regulations, and policies that impact Guelph-Humber.
“Senate set me up for going into policy because the skills I learned from this are something very strong and necessary,” she said.
Nathania is also a trailblazer. She was part of the first cohort of CSS students to participate in the new fourth-year thesis course. This helped sharpen her research skills, preparing her for grad school. She completed her thesis on youth substance use prevention in Canadian federal law, which included a policy evaluation examining harm reduction and abstinence-based approaches, proposing an integrated module.
Award recognitions and uplifting mentorship
Nathania’s star shines brightly as she was the recipient of two graduation awards: an Outstanding Achievement in Field Placement and a Gold Medallion for Leadership Excellence. She was nominated for these awards by the manager of her fourth-year placement at Canadian Mental Health Association, and her third-year field placement supervisor and mentor, Amanda Crognale, for her work co-authoring a published manuscript at St. Michael’s Hospital, respectively.
“It was a very good placement because it was at the St. Michael's Hospital, the Arthur Sommer Rotenberg Suicide & Depression Studies Program. That was my first time getting into full-on research with the benefit of co-authorship,” Nathania explained. “It was health related, which is where I want to go with health policy. I think it was great having that level of exposure.”
While she has achieved a lot during her time as a U of GH student before crossing the stage at convocation, Nathania credits the inspiration and support of her mentors within the CSS program, who she could rely on to share ideas with, get advice from, or even simply chat with, including Dr. Boukydis (who’s also a CSS alum), Crognale, and Danielle Pomeroy.
“They are amazing people. They aren’t just there for you academically. They're there for you as a person, whatever you need; you can reach out to them. They always offer that support,” she said with a smile about how her mentors make a difference in her life.
Nathania’s advice
With her tremendous strength and the support of her network, Nathania never gave up on chasing her dreams. At Convocation 2025 on June 16, she sat on stage as a student representative of the platform party congratulating her peers and then crossed the stage, looking ahead at new goals and her next steps, and looking back at the lifelong memories she made at U of GH.
Throughout her post-secondary experience, she learned a valuable lesson she’d like other students to know: don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone.
“It’s easier said than done. Always step out of your boundaries and what you’re used to. I wouldn’t have thought of applying and getting into Cornell, but then just did it to see what comes out of it,” she said.