Abbigail Lawrance ’10, B.A., Honours Gender and Women’s Studies, Waterford, ON

 

» Video Transcript

Abbigail Lawrance is a devoted advocate for global social justice, a defender of those marginalized in the world today, and now an Honours graduate from Trent. Out of deep concern regarding the long lasting implications of colonization faced by Indigenous peoples in Canada and around the world, Abbigail enrolled in Trent’s Gender and Women’s Studies. She wanted to understand and change how power relations in today’s society contribute to inequities experienced by marginalized groups. “Through my time at Trent University, I have come to understand the connectivity of social injustices and the collectivity that is necessary to combat such oppressions on a global scale,” Abbigail stated.

While at Trent, Abbigail channelled her passions in a big way. She initiated the Trent chapter of World Literacy Canada’s “Students for World Literacy.” The group raised awareness and money for literacy programs in Northern India and Nepal, encouraging literacy among women and girls and rural communities. Abbigail became the vice-president of the newly founded club, The Trent Feminist Society, to shine a light on feminist issues and offer support and mentoring to women on campus. She represented Trent as a Trent University Ambassador to welcome incoming students, served as a fourth year student representative of the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies and tutored a grade 1 student through the Frontier College effort on campus. 

Abbigail feels it is important to be involved in the community. “Through the mandates of each of these involvements, I have developed my understandings of the importance of community in individual growth and have also been able to apply what I have learned in my program towards fostering genuine social change,” she said.

For Abbigail, the best thing about studying at Trent University was the communal atmosphere of engagement between students and professors. “I had the amazing opportunity of conversing with and learning from some of the most influential scholars and researchers in Canada,” she said.

In the short term, Abbigail will begin her life’s work as an activist for genuine equity and equality. She will start employment with a women’s services organization in Hamilton before applying to teach English in South Korea. Abbigail said, “I will take what I have learned through my degree from Trent as a basis for such work which I hope to accomplish in my future, and as a constant reminder that education can open one up to a multitude of opportunities and possibilities in the strive towards creating change.”