U of A ELITE Program students win RBC Future Launch Scholarship for Black Youth
Donna McKinnon - 28 February 2022
The learning environment in traditionally male-dominated fields can be daunting for any female student, but for third year electrical and computer engineering student Jemima Okanlawon, and Imani Murray, a third year physiology major in the Faculty of Science, the challenge is compounded by being one of only a few black students in their respective disciplines.
The issue, says Okanlawon, is the lack of representation and mentorship. “It made me wonder what it would take for me to really thrive in this field.”
“It’s also about not seeing teachers that look like me in the fields that I'm studying,” says Murray. “Sometimes it can be a little overwhelming, so yes, it’s very important to have that representation.”
Last week, Okanlawon and Murray received the RBC Future Launch Scholarship for Black Youth. The scholarship provides financial and mentorship support from the bank and its community partners, and is part of a larger initiative to create meaningful and transformative pathways to prosperity for 25,000 BIPOC youth by 2025.
Left to right: Imani Murray (Photo: BigMike Photos) and Jemima Okanlawon (Photo: Russell Ramil)
When she first heard, Murray says she was ecstatic when she shared the news with her family.
“It’s such a long road to get to where we are right now,” she says. “It’s taken a lot of dedication and hard work, and sometimes in the midst of many failures and setbacks, it can be discouraging. To have RBC come up with something like this, and then also to be selected, it’s just amazing.”
Okanlawon says that no words can describe just how encouraging and motivating this acknowledgement is, or how powerful.
As a child, Okanlawon dealt with a number of health issues, including sickle cell anemia, but the self-described ‘robotics enthusiast’ was equally intrigued by electronics and would often take apart video game controllers, remote control cars, or just about any device that came to hand to learn their inner workings.
“I learned that I could merge those two worlds — electronics and helping people with illnesses — by specializing in biomedical engineering,” she says.
Murray is also strongly motivated by her passion for helping people, which she says stems from a deep commitment to social justice. Growing up in Jamaica, Murray witnessed firsthand the downfalls of not having access to proper healthcare, and later, by contrast, the privilege of free healthcare in Canada.
“There’s still a disparity here in Canada,” she cautions. “Not just in terms of geography, but also within different populations. I know how much of a difference it can make by being an ally for someone in marginalized communities, especially in healthcare. That’s what keeps me committed to the field. I know I can make a contribution.”
In 2021, Okanlawon and Murray were named the inaugural interns for the Experiential Learning in Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship (ELITE) Program for Black Youth, which places high school and undergraduate students in paid work-integrated internships in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) and business. Each intern receives leadership and entrepreneurship training, as well as group coaching and wellness sessions for managing the demands of professional careers.
Independent of one another, both students were placed at the U of A’s Neuromuscular Control & Biomechanics Laboratory, where they gained invaluable experience putting what they had learned in the classroom to practical use on real-world problems.
Murray says the ELITE Program's group wellness and coaching sessions were especially helpful.
“Even though it's not directly academically related, the skills that I took from there are helping me academically,” she says. “Taking that time to just be present, to know that not everything is perfect sometimes. To know that it’s all part of the process of becoming your best future selves.”
Okanlawon and Murray were among the first University of Alberta ELITE students to win the RBC scholarship. They are also among seven students out of twenty from Alberta to win this national award. Four of those students were from the ELITE Program for Black Youth at the University of Alberta.
“I'm so thankful,” says Okanlawon. “For RBC to offer these scholarships to encourage Black students and black youth to continue to strive to do big things in their careers and make a difference for the community? I feel like I'm just a student here, doing my own thing, trying to get to my career and make my way in life. To have a whole company back me and say ‘we support you’ — that’s huge.”
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