Have you met Megan, Program Support Coordinator with the Aboriginal Teaching Education Program (ATEP) in the Faculty of Education? Spend a few minutes getting to know her better.
What is your first U of A memory?
My first memory is coming to the campus a few days before my first semester as an education student. I was trying to figure out how to take the LRT and where all the classrooms were so I didn’t get lost on the first day. That was almost a decade ago, and I’m not sure I’ve gotten any better at navigating campus!
What’s something your coworkers don’t know about you?
My coworkers probably know too much about me. Everything I thought of, I followed up with “no, I’ve definitely told someone about that…” haha. I think it speaks to the closeness of the women who work together in ATEP. Connection and community are intuitively embodied in what we do and how we do it. As a result, we’ve grown to know each other quite well, including our lives outside of work. I appreciate how attuned we are and how easily the margins of our day are filled with laughter and anecdotes.
For any of my non-ATEP colleagues — I love bull riding (spectating, not participating, in case there was any confusion).
What’s your favourite distraction?
I have a hard time sitting still and I feel like I have a revolving door of hobbies, but I’m spending a lot of time sewing right now. I have to take a moment to thank Dr. Noella Steinhauer for demystifying the process and giving me a boost of confidence to embrace a new interest in sewing and making ribbon skirts.
If you were enrolling in one course, program or degree right now, what would it be?
Well, I feel obligated to say the program I’m currently in — Masters of Education with the Department of Secondary Education in the Faculty of Education.
Coming back to school, I was less concerned about what I would learn and focused more on who I wanted to learn from. At 30 years old, I’d never had an Indigenous professor, instructor or teacher. Fortunately that has changed in the last year and I’m thankful for the people who have opened my eyes to new possibilities.
If I were starting from scratch, I would choose to do a Bachelor of Education degree with ATEP. I might be biased, but working alongside students, staff and faculty in this program and seeing education approached differently, centred around Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing, gives me hope. I wish I’d been able to experience that as an undergraduate student, but I’m grateful to be part of this ATEP community now.
What’s a weird pet peeve you have?
The thing is, I think all of my pet peeves are justified, but if I had to choose one that errs towards irrational anger, I would say when people don’t let you exit the elevator/bus/LRT before entering.
You can invite anyone — alive or dead, real or fictional — to dinner. Who would it be?
My grandma. She departed the physical world in 2013 but continues to guide me. I keep a photo of her on my desk, and I would love to have one more conversation with her. I wrote a piece about her for one of my courses last semester. After I shared it with the class, one of my classmates told me that many of the traits I admired in my grandma were attributes I embodied. That was one of the best compliments someone could give me. I hope my grandma would be proud of the person I’ve become (or am in the process of becoming).
If you could see any live performance tomorrow, what would it be?
I would say the Red Hot Chili Peppers with my dad. We have wildly divergent musical tastes, but RHCP is one of the few things we can agree on. Unfortunately, we’ve missed every opportunity to attend a concert together, but they’re on tour right now, and I’m hopeful we can cross that off the bucket list soon!
What advice would you give your 18-year-old self?
Don’t worry so much about what other people think.
What’s one thing you can’t live without?
A notebook, either paper or digital. I’m constantly scribbling and doodling, and I’ve realized that I’m lying to myself when I say I’ll remember a thought or idea for later.
What three words describe your U of A experience?
Paradoxical. Unfolding. Kinship.
About Megan
Megan Tipler (she/her) is a Métis educator who works as a Program Support Coordinator with the Aboriginal Teacher Education Program (ATEP). She previously worked as a secondary English teacher, where she was committed to disrupting dominant narratives and celebrating and affirming her students' identities in the classroom. In recent years, she moved beyond her classroom and started to use social media as a tool to share information and connect with other educators. Megan is also a graduate student pursuing her Master's in Education, focusing on Indigenous perspectives in curriculum and teacher education. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family, coaching basketball, creating digital artwork and crafting.