Graduate Spotlight: Dehmin Eshkawkogan

(July 19, 2023) - Recent graduate from the Health Promotion program, Dehmin ​Eshkawkogan continues to use the support systems around her to persevere through any challenge that comes her way.

With her hometown of Wikwemikong and being close to her family, Dehmin stated that “when I was in high school I wasn’t sure which programs I wanted to apply to but I knew for sure that I wanted to stay close to home. That was a big reason why I chose Laurentian, only 2 hours away from home.”

Dehmin originally wanted to go into Nursing, but was immediately drawn to the Health Promotion program “because when I read the program description it fit exactly what I wanted to do and what I was interested in going into.”

Dehmin’s support and motivation in choosing a post secondary institution and her program stemmed from her family and her participation in Outside Looking In; a Indigenous-led organization designed to empower Indigenous youth. The program provided many opportunities, including pairing her with a mentor , enabling participation in dance classes, and field trips as a group for competitions. “It gave me something to look forward to; a reason to get good grades.” 

Through balancing school, the program, work and a social life, Dehmin expressed feeling like the Outside Looking In program helped her build a variety of pertinent skills for everyday use. These include “time management and the discipline to keep up with homework and assignments. I feel like it also helped build my motivation to do homework, complete assignments and  the incentive of going to Toronto for the dance competitions  was also a really big motivational factor.” Participating in the Outside Looking In program throughout her high school experience at Wikwemikong High School as well as being an alumna in her 3rd year University, “the Outside Looking In program really helped me transition from high school to postsecondary and now from my bachelors to potentially getting my Masters.”

Once arriving at Laurentian, Dehmin described her experience living in residence as a culture shock. “Especially coming from the res. It was dorm style, so it’s kind of like in the movies where you have a hallway the dorms are right there. I feel like it was a big culture shock for me because you just get really close to everyone really fast. It prepared me to take the next step of later moving out on my own.” 

Having struggled with the isolation of the pandemic, Dehmin stated feeling like she didn’t get to “connect with the community as much as I would’ve liked to because of COVID but one thing I did really enjoy was just being back on campus. I feel like it was such a big positive change going from remote learning to in person learning because I need to be in the classroom to learn so I feel like I enjoyed my courses a lot more that way.” 

Having been such an involved student through her high school experience, Dehmin feels as though given the chance, she would have been a heavily involved member of the Laurentian community throughout numerous extracurriculars. In her first year, Dehmin involved herself in a fire keeping workshop through the Indigenous Sharing and Learning Center (ISLC) on campus “so with the community during my first year with that workshop and I also happened to get my first aid which was mandatory for my program as well.”

Since graduating, Dehmin has been working at Wikwemikong Development Commission as a summer student employment coordinator. She helps find “employers to employ students and helps budget the funding that provides these students their wages during the summer.” With her knowledge from the healthy promotion program, Dehmin feels as though she has a better understanding of community health; which supports her in her role everyday.

In the fall, Dehmin plans on attending Georgian College in the “Anishnaabemowin and Program Development” program. Following this 2 year program, “I want to apply for physical therapy school and become a physiotherapist.” Dehmin expressed that courses she took throughout the Health Promotion program at Laurentian like Principles in Health and Disease, as well as Biomechanics are what first brought her attention to physiotherapy as a career.

Dehmin has now become a role model for her community as well as for her family. “I’m actually the first in my family  to graduate high school. My mom and dad never graduated and my sister is younger than me. So I guess I could say I’m the first in my immediate family to attend University.” Her younger sister intends on following in her big sister's steps by applying to a post secondary institution and following a path towards a career in health as well.

Dehmin’s family attended her graduation this spring and are very proud of her accomplishments. “I got a fancy frame for my degree, it’s hanging up.”