This is Nushaiba Nanjiba – A Beedie Luminary from the inaugural cohort of the SHINE Program and a recipient of the Graduate Studies Award 2024. She recently completed her undergraduate degree from Simon Fraser University majoring in Psychology and Minoring in Counseling Human Development. This Fall, Nushaiba has started her Master’s in Counseling Psychology at Simon Fraser University. After completing her Master’s, Nushaiba is planning to be a Registered Clinical Counselor and supporting marginalized communities in their mental health journey.
This summer, Nushaiba presented her research at the American Psychological Conference in Seattle. This research was part of the lab where as a research assistant she got the opportunity to conduct independent research. Her research looked at how people in consensually non-monogamous relationships navigate their experiences of stigma related to their relationship style.
Alongside her Masters, Nushaiba currently works as a support worker in Transitional Housing for women and children who are homeless, at risk of homelessness, or fleeing from abuse/violence. In this role, she provides emotional and instrumental support to clients and advocates for their needs.
Hi Nushaiba! It’s no surprise that as a graduate student, you are an extremely busy and well-rounded student. What does being well-rounded mean to you? Where did your understanding of it originally come from?
My understanding of being well rounded has changed over the years. I think growing up the message I got from my parents was that I always have to study and get good grades. Everything else is secondary. But, my mom was very interested in the arts, so she would take me to art and dance classes after school. However the priority was always school. For example, if I had an exam coming up, I would use the time allocated for my extracurricular to study. These extracurriculars were my escape, it allowed me to create an identity outside of my academic identity. It made me feel like there was more to me than school. I didn’t feel like a one dimensional person who was focused on only one thing. But, when I moved to Canada I lost my escape. I lost that sense of identity that was tied to my extracurricular activities.
So, I had to start from the beginning again on being well rounded. Coming to a new country led me to take on extra responsibilities in the household which limited my ability to indulge in extracurriculars. Flash forward to grade 9, I had stumbled into an office in my school in hopes of getting free candy. I went there with a friend and we were so shy that we would look at the floor while talking to them. We finally got the words out that we wanted some candy. The staff said, “come volunteer with us for two hours and I can get you this whole box of candy”. In my mind, I thought “two hours for that much candy sounds like a great deal!”. Little did I know how important volunteering would become for me. This day was the gateway to my community engagement.
For the next 4 years, I spent hundreds of hours volunteering for different after school programs every week, being president of various clubs, and organizing multiple community events and workshops. I challenged myself to do the International Baccalaureate program so that I could excel academically. I was extremely passionate about everything that I was a part of. I felt a sense of community and like I belonged to something. At this point, being well rounded meant that I was part of something bigger than myself. Part of being well rounded was the friendships that I created through these extracurricular activities; it was being able to juggle multiple things at once. I felt proud of how occupied my day was.
Then, skip to university, where you enter a new community, a new place where the meaning of well rounded changes. I felt another wave of having to start all over again. I took all my experiences from high school and re-calculated how it can fit into my life. I felt like I had to be a well rounded person rather than a well rounded student who had to do multiple things to occupy their day. I started incorporating different self-care techniques recently.
I have realized how important it is for the mind and body to be exercising regularly; I have started eating more consciously now. I am also trying my best to be financially literate now so I can make good choices in the future. I know these are very simple things but I do them very intentionally now. I even got in touch with my favorite escape as a child, which was art. I am also very intentional about the time I spend with my friends and family. These small things help me feel like a well rounded person which in turn help me give back to my community.
Thank you for sharing. How does being well-rounded impact your graduate applications and you as a graduate student?
I think it impacts heavily. I think they are looking for a well rounded person as I was saying before. For the program that I am in – Counselling Psychology – it was imperative that I had varied experiences with different communities. They require that you have good grades, but it is also equally important to have hands-on experience through jobs. They wanted you to be community oriented through volunteering positions, and require that you have research experiences so that you can contribute to the field. Being well rounded helps you to be sure of yourself which can help you figure out what you want your grad school journey to be like.
My preparation for grad school application started years earlier because I knew that was something I wanted to pursue. I worked backwards from my goals in order to map out the steps I needed to take to push forward. I knew I needed to push myself to try different things so that I could be a well rounded person. I ended up expanding my community a lot and making myself a part of even bigger things. I was deeply involved in research throughout my university where I got to learn a lot of new skills. I have been very lucky to be able to travel to different places which has opened up my world even more. As I get older and move to the next stages of my life, I understand that being well rounded is about having a purpose. For me, being able to support my community and to contribute to society has been a driving force. That’s what pushes me to be a well rounded person.
What advice do you have for applying to master’s programs?
Start application early: Grad school applications are very lengthy and time consuming. It can be very overwhelming at first. You should start your application process around 4 months early. You should be researching what schools you want to apply to and what kind of program it is. Is it course based or thesis based? If it is thesis based, then find the supervisors you want to work with. I find it helpful to create an excel sheet with deadlines, requirements, status of your application process etc., to track your journey.
The “fit”: One thing that is very important is to find out if you are the right fit for the program or if the program is the right fit for you. It is important to have a clear sense of what you want to study/research. Then, you have to figure out if what you specifically want to study fits within what the program is offering. You might be the best candidate out there but if your research interest does not match with the supervisor/program you are applying to then you won’t make it to the next stage of the application process.
Reach out for support: This can be a daunting process especially if you are the first in your circle to go down this path. So, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Ask your professors for advice. Go to every workshop you can go to. Ask your peers to read over your application materials. Reach out to the grad students who are already in the programs you are applying to. Having a second or third eye can really help refine your application material.
Be true to who you are: I think an important thing that grad programs are looking for is authenticity. The programs are very small and they are looking for a unique perspective. So, be true to who you are. Say what you are truly passionate about. That comes through in applications and that is contagious. No one else can be you and that is your superpower.
Back to you… whare some experiences that you’ve gained along the way to becoming a successful masters candidate?
I have been very intentional about the kind of experiences I want to have so that I can be a successful master’s candidate. From the beginning, I knew that I wanted to be involved in cross cultural/ or culturally adapted counselling. Thus, I started investing my time in gaining experience in working with people from different backgrounds. I started volunteering at the crisis line for over 400 hours where I learned how to provide emotional support to people experiencing mental health or substance use issues, poverty, and loneliness among other issues. I enrolled in the co-op program so that I could start getting work experience. Additionally, I did an eight month co-op at a neighborhood house working with children and youth in designing and implementing after school programs. This work experience enabled me to work as a behavior interventionist where I worked with children with autism. As an able-bodied person, this work experience allowed me to learn how to cater to the specific needs of people with developmental and physical disabilities.
I also made sure to supplement my work and volunteering experience with research experience. I work at a research lab which looks at seniors experiencing homelessness and their needs and barriers so that they can age in the right place. This allowed me to understand the struggles of older adults which is something that I had no experience in. I also volunteered in another lab with the psychology department which looked at close relationships especially consensually non-monogamous relationships. Since my interest lies in stigma, I reached out to the professor so that I could conduct my independent research looking at stigma and the specific relationship style. I was able to do two conference posters and one presentation throughout my time there. I was very excited and lucky to be able to present at an international conference which is a rare opportunity for undergraduates. It was very important for me to have diverse experiences because I knew my focus in grad school would be to cater to the specific needs of different types of people and not use a one size fits all approach.
I have been so fortunate to be able to get into this highly competitive graduate program and to get the opportunities I have gotten. I have received a lot of support from my friends, my peers, my family, my mentors and especially from Beedie Luminaries. I couldn’t have any of these experiences if it wasn’t for my support network. So, I will be eternally grateful to them and I hope I can make everyone proud who have done so much for me!
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