This year, Makenna Coldwell, a biosystems engineering student, is the recipient of the student affairs participation award.

The student affairs participation award — a scholarship provided by the U of M — recognizes students who balance voluntary commitments with academic success. Since 1992, the award has honoured students who maintain good academic performance while demonstrating leadership and contributing to the university or the broader community.

To be eligible, students must have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 and completed sufficient courses that constitute at least the first full year of an academic program.

Coldwell participates actively in her faculty and the office of sustainability. She served as the student representative on the biosystems department council, the engineering undergraduate academic relations and curriculum committee and the engineering local discipline committee.

As human resource manager for the U of M Space Applications and Technology Society, she developed onboarding practices, conflict management resources and EDI information. She also contributes to the team’s design work on CubeSat, which recently won the Canadian satellite design challenge.

Coldwell expressed her satisfaction and joy for being recognized for her contributions in and outside the university community. Coldwell said she has been a part of the U of M community since her undergraduate days and is now pursuing a master of science in engineering focusing on agricultural engineering.

She revealed that she participated in many student groups during her undergraduate studies and remains an active member for groups related to women in engineering, sustainability and the Ukrainian community.

“I am a part of and was a part of a lot of student groups in my undergraduate degree, and I’m continuing to be a part of a lot of them, mostly related to engineering inclusivity,” said Coldwell. “So, for women in engineering specifically, and a lot about sustainability. I’m very involved in my community outside of the University of Manitoba,” she added.

In addition, she volunteered on the board of directors for a local Ukrainian dance school last year and continues to work with the school. She also tutors students in mathematics and engineering and said she got involved not for recognition but because she enjoys and loves what she does.

Coldwell mentioned, “everything I do is something I do because I love it. I don’t do it for recognition, but it’s nice to see other people see all of the hard work that I’ve put into different student groups and initiatives and understand that it is possible to be doing all of these things while maintaining a high academic performance.”

She noted her reaction to this recognition. “It came as a surprise for me. I think I was nominated by one of my supervisors while I worked for the office of sustainability at the University of Manitoba,” said Coldwell. “So, they nominated me without me knowing. And I didn’t really know about the student affairs participation award prior to joining all these clubs and initiatives. So, it was a pleasant surprise for me.”

Coldwell mentioned how she balances her student life and volunteering by focusing on what she enjoys, finding purpose in her work and planning her activities effectively.

“Everything for me is scheduled down to the minute in my calendar. So, my Outlook calendar is always scheduled or my Google calendar,” she said. “Everything has a timeline. I don’t like having free time. I like to be doing something, something with a purpose, […] everything I do is something that I enjoy. So, for me, doing it didn’t feel like a task,” she added.

Coldwell disclosed that while growing up, she knew she had a couple of different paths that she wanted to explore, whether it be engineering, medicine or mathematics. Even as a child, she always excelled in mathematics and also scored a 100 per cent on her pre-calculus provincial exam. “So, I always knew growing up that I was good at the skills that lead to engineering, such as problem-solving and mathematics. So, when I joined engineering my first year, I immediately felt like this is for me. I belong here,” Coldwell said.

She maintained a high GPA while balancing academic work with volunteer activities by dedicating many scheduled hours to studying and working on practice problems, rather than relying solely on attending classes. She mentioned, “every time that I had professors say, ‘do these set of practice problems,’ I would do it. You have to do everything out of your initiative. You can’t just rely on going to class and absorbing the information and then just getting an A+.”

Aside from coming from a supportive family, she revealed that her parents were first generation students who achieved academic success and did well in their careers. Inspired by their accomplishments and those of her sister, she aims to follow their example to keep the same pattern in the family. “They always say, do whatever you want to do, do what’s your passion. And it just so turned out that my passion was following kind of in their footsteps, going to university and for me pursuing engineering,” she said.

She encouraged girls to consider engineering or any other field, saying there is always a place for everyone. She stated that it is normal for women in engineering to feel scared at times, as she also experienced the same at first. Coldwell indicated, “so you also have the right to feel scared, but I promise you, you will find a place in this field and your ideas matter. Your problem-solving, your solutions, anything that you want to design, there is a place for that in this field of engineering. So, I highly encourage you to explore this field if you want to.”

Coldwell enjoys solving math problems and reading math-related textbooks. She spends time with friends at coffee shops, where they discuss various topics. These activities help her when she feels down.

Sharing her thoughts about leadership, she pointed out that being a leader for specific initiatives is important. She revealed that she was a shy and reserved person who never saw herself getting into leadership roles before coming to the university. She said one cannot simply fall into a leadership role. It requires significant effort and a lot of work.

She expressed, “it takes a lot of connections, obviously, connecting with your peers. So, my advice is for someone who wants to be a leader in a specific initiative, or student group or organization, you do have to start from the bottom. Join the group as a first year, just as being a member.”

She advised potential students who want to gain recognition for the student affairs participation award to remain involved, keep doing their work and share their activities with people from the various communities that they belong to.

“I just want people to know that anything they do, it matters. Whether it be something small, some one-off volunteering, or whether it be being a leader or a part of a larger organization, your involvement in your community is so important,” Coldwell mentioned. “So, please continue to do so. Set an example for others in your community,” Coldwell added.

“Look at my story and say, it is possible for you to participate in things like this and maintain a high GPA. If you’re a student, you can do both. It is hard sometimes, but you can do both,” she advised.