Celebrate the small wins
In the Dragon Boat race, as in life, it is important to have big goals, but also know when to celebrate the small wins.
Because of her dedication, she received the Club Leadership Award from the Athletics and Recreation Department, which is awarded to the student who exemplifies the qualities of a leader in recreation and sport. “To know that many of my club members sent in nominations and that Athletics also believed that I embodied the values of a leader made receiving the award so meaningful.”
Building critical life skills
Her most rewarding and memorable academic experience was a REC 413 course on Innovative Solutions in Recreation and Sport Business in winter 2020. She had the opportunity to work with MSLE LaunchPad, an organization that helps youth facing barriers use sport to reach their potential by building critical life skills.
“The children and the families that use these facilities are from families much like my own; of low-socioeconomic status, and the majority were BIPOC,” Queen Anbu says. “My childhood life was one of struggle and hardship. However, it wasn’t until this opportunity that I realized everything I had gone through in life had a reason: To be a better community member.”
Her life experiences helped her team design a solution that both addressed the issue and created an opportunity that made sports more accessible and inclusive. “This experience helped me narrow down my own passions within the field of sport and social justice to focus on creating equitable, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive opportunities in sport for BIPOC youth.” Now, her goal for grad school is “to make the world of sport and recreation more accessible and inclusive for BIPOC.”
Queen Anbu was also involved in other activities throughout her undergraduate degree, including peer and BIPOC mentoring, student representative for the department and other organizations, and a volunteer with the Waterloo West Neighbourhood Fest.
She says the key to success is to celebrate the small wins. “By that I mean, celebrate that time you stubbed your toe and told yourself it was a bad moment and not a bad day; or when you set boundaries and kept them; when you asked for help instead of pushing through; went to your therapy appointment; tried again even after failing; stood up for yourself; said no; thanked your anxious thoughts for trying to protect you, even if they weren’t the right tool for the task; or when you showed yourself kindness instead of being hard on yourself for not getting that grade on that assignment, test, or exam. And for my BIPOC peers out there, celebrate the moment you broke generational curses.”
She adds, “Graduating, finding out what you’re passionate about, achieving major goals you set for yourself are great milestones, but it’s also those little wins that happen during our average days where no one is around – those are the moments that are so important to recognize and celebrate.”
Queen Anbu graduates in Spring 2021 with 457 other Faculty of Health undergraduate and 86 graduate students.