Yichang Ge
Program: Honours Integrated Science Level III
This club was an opportunity for me to learn and grow as a person. It is frustrating to grow up under an education system that doesn’t recognize the historic mistakes in the past and that was what pushed me to join in the first place. I was exposed to issues pertaining to marginalized communities around me while exploring concepts like allyship and reconciliation. I wanted to understand what constitutes powerful allyship and how I could put myself in a position of learning and contributing while not overstepping any boundaries. Allyship is a continuous process and I am so grateful to have been apart of this movement for the past few years. I hope for all attendees to come in with an open mind and be genuinely interested and engaged with our invited guest speakers. In terms of Indigenous health, I hope people learn about some of the disparities that are built off a systemic framework that has only worsened over the years. It is important for us to engage in these fruitful discussions and acknowledge these issues. Indigenous health will always be important even as a non-Indigenous identifying individual because we should strive for a more equitable and holistic approach to health.