Bishop’s student awarded 3M National Student Fellowship
Sonoma Brawley, a student at Bishop’s University (BU), has been honoured with the prestigious 3M National Student Fellowship for 2024. This fellowship represents the highest national recognition of student educational leadership in Canada, according to a May 13 press release.
The 3M National Student Fellowship annually acknowledges up to ten full-time students from Canadian post-secondary institutions who have shown exceptional leadership both in their academic pursuits and their communities. These students are recognized for their commitment to enhancing the educational experience through leadership and community engagement.
Brawley, a second-year student at Bishop’s University, is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance with a Musical Theatre Concentration and an English Minor. Originally from Squamish, B.C., Brawley is also a Chancellor’s Excellence Scholar and a recipient of the Bishop’s Exceptional Student Talent (B.E.S.T.) Fund, which supports innovative experiential learning opportunities.
Additionally, she is a Stephen A. Jarislowsky Student Fellow, a threeterm Humanities Senator for the Student Representative Council, Junior Co-captain of the competitive dance team, and Co-lead of the BU Music Society.
Brawley is recognized for her transformative leadership as a research fellow for the Hope Circuits project, which aims to rewire universities for human flourishing, and for her contributions to the Online Learning Technology Consultant program, which focuses on involving students in the design of 21st-century classrooms.
Brawley joins a distinguished group of Bishop’s students who have received this national recognition in recent years. Each year, only ten fellowships are awarded from over 1.1 million eligible students attending Canadian postsecondary institutions.
Brawley joins a distinguished group of Bishop’s students who have received this national
recognition in recent years. Each year, only ten fellowships are awarded
from over 1.1 million eligible students attending Canadian post-secondary
institutions.
BU has celebrated eight student fellows in the past nine years, including Liam O’toole (2023), Sufia Langevin (2022), Georges-philippe Gadoury-sansfaçon (2021), Maxim Jacques (2020), Ethan Pohl (2019), Théo Soucy (2018), and Jason Earl (2015).
Dr. Jessica Riddell, a 3M National Teaching Fellow and professor at BU, nominated Brawley for this award. She praised Brawley as “an exceptional student with a deep commitment to leadership, innovation, and advocacy, particularly in the field of humanities education. I have had the privilege of witnessing Sonoma’s transformative journey and contributions to our academic community at Bishop’s University and her impact in the public sphere.”
More from Sonoma Brawley
“[3M] looks at the current needs in higher education and society and seeks to implement change,” said Brawley, speaking on her achievement to The Record May 16. Brawley has sought to be engaged in the BU community, primarily in her role as a Humanities Senator for the university’s student union where she worked to convince her colleagues of the value and benefit of the humanities.
Brawley has also worked closely with Riddell on Riddell’s project for Hope Circuits, which seeks to “rewire university for human flourishing.” Her interest in the humanities developed in her last few years of high school and have been important to her throughout her “education journey.”
Brawley, coming from a small town in B.C., came to the conclusion that the arts are underfunded and underrepresented. She is grateful to have learned at BU what higher education looks like as a whole and how students can get involved and create change.
Brawley thinks bringing humanity and human experiences back into the university is essential. Students are not just numbers to be tracked on a sheet, she said, and need to feel welcomed and be encouraged to be themselves in the classroom. Different parts of the university system can be developed and improved, she insisted.
As a part of this fellowship, Brawley will be travelling to Niagara Falls for a weekend in June to attend a conference where she will meet up with the other winners of the award. She and her fellows will also receive funds to create a project in the teaching and learning field. She is really looking forward to bringing everything she learns from her fellows back to BU. She thinks it will “re-energize” and give her a new sense of purpose.
Going forward, Brawley would like to continue on in musical theatre. She is currently working in P.E.I. at a professional show, “Anne and Gilbert,” which follows the storyline of the second and third of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s famous series of books. A professor from BU, Wade Lynch, is directing the project. “It’s been a really fun process,” Brawley said, “it’s been an amazing experiential learning opportunity.”
Brawley is “incredibly honoured” to be recognized alongside nine other student leaders and innovators and is very grateful for all the support she received from mentors and teachers at BU.
Brawley thinks bringing humanity and human experiences back into the university is essential. Students are not just numbers to be tracked on a sheet, she said, and need
to feel welcomed and be encouraged to be themselves
in the classroom.