Blog Post: Meet Madison, Camp Programs Instructor

Hi! Aaniin, Bhozho! I’m Madison :) 

I am a settler living in Nogojiwanong, where I’ve studied at Trent for the past 5 years, and have just graduated this spring from the Indigenous Environmental Studies & Sciences program! I grew up in Mississauga, Ontario, close to the lake and the Credit River. I am of mixed settler-colonial European ancestry -- I have Scottish, English, French, and German heritage. I grew up visiting my grandparents’ cottage on the Sauble/Saugeen river, and I’ve been able to learn about myself in relation to the landscape over my lifetime of returning each year, each season, and noticing what has changed and what has stayed the same. 

I am so excited to join Tracks as a summer instructor doing good work on the land with youth. I love being curious about the natural world, as a way of getting to know the land. I’ve worked at different summer camps since I was 15, and I love this kind of work because I get to learn from youth about how they see the world, and play a role in their learning and understanding of the world around them. I love their curiosity, excitement, and enthusiasm about whatever they’re interested in, and trying to connect programming and learning with their interests. I enjoy the challenges that come with this kind of work, where every day is new and brings different things, each child is different with their own unique way of seeing the world.

This is my first time working at TRACKS and I am beyond excited. I am already learning so much, and am seeing myself as a part of STEM education outside of my university studies, and I’m feeling inspired about my future as an educator and working in the non-profit sector. The experience I’ve had at Trent has contributed to my learning journey in discovering the gifts that I bring to the world, and how I can use them to live in a good way, in good relation with people, the earth, and all of its beings. In my free time as a part time student this past year, I volunteered a lot at the Ptbo Theatre Guild as a set painter and also did a PA day camp with tracks, which was a blast!

I am SO excited to continue with this kind of work on the land with kids, in a new context, and to learn a bunch this summer. It is an enriching and rewarding experience working with youth and working on a team of like-minded individuals with an incredibly wide array of experience and talents. I’m so excited to be working with this incredible team and can’t wait to see what we come up with together. I am grateful to continuously learn about living in good relation with this territory, and the territory I grew up on. I’m passionate about inspiring curiosity about the natural world, and building a positive relationship with the land, wherever I may be.