Laurier graduand Oliver Manidoka aids prospective Indigenous students in journey toward postsecondary education

June 3, 2024

Arriving from the small Ontario community of Port Elgin, Oliver Manidoka was naturally a little nervous when beginning studies at Wilfrid Laurier University’s Waterloo campus as a first-year undergraduate student.

“I feel like everyone gets anxious when you are coming in somewhere for the first time, so there was a little bit of that,” says Manidoka. “But I was welcomed very warmly into the Laurier community and was supported with resources offered by the school. The Indigenous Student Centre was a great place for me to ground coming from a smaller town up north. Being able to find safety there, as well as like-minded folks, was really important.”

After four successful years, Manidoka will graduate at spring convocation this June with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, research specialist designation.

During his undergraduate studies, Manidoka has experienced Indigenous Student Services as both a student and staff member. In November 2023, he took on the role of interim Indigenous Student Recruitment and Access Coordinator with Laurier’s Indigenous Student Services team. In the position, Manidoka works directly with prospective Indigenous students, providing one-on-one support, answering inquiries and helping navigate the undergraduate admissions process.

“I share a passion for getting folks in post-secondary education and letting them know it’s an option,” he says. “If you’re going to attend school somewhere in a city, then it’s convenient to have an established community and established services like those at the Indigenous Student Centre. People want to know they can be themselves in certain places, so I really try to advertise that to people because it made such a difference for me.”

Oliver Manidoka, centre, pictured with members of Laurier’s Indigenous Student Services team.  

Manidoka, who is Anishinaabeg with family roots in Saugeen First Nation No. 29, first began visiting the Waterloo campus Indigenous Student Centre because it allowed him a place to smudge. From there, he discovered programs and services that introduced him to Laurier’s supportive community. Manidoka says his undergraduate experience wasn’t always easy, noting he arrived on campus just before the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and returned to in-person studies for his fourth year.

“As a student, the perception of having people whose entire job it is to ensure you are being successful is really reassuring,” Manidoka says of Laurier’s Indigenous Student Services team. “Now that I’m on the team, the shoe is on the other foot and I’m trying to help folks as they navigate the admissions process. It’s a tight-knit team and it feels great to be heading into work every day.”

As part of his position, Manidoka helped run an Office of Indigenous Initiatives lunch and learn event for Waterloo campus staff in February. As part of the event, he discussed food sustainability and shared details about Laurier’s Indigenous Sovereignty Garden, a project he is passionate about and played a role in launching. The food garden, grown by a team of volunteers, is located at Laurier’s Northdale location in Waterloo.

“Indigenous food sovereignty is a topic that is being explored, especially in urban environments, as it relates to disadvantaged populations and raising people up through these initiatives,” says Manidoka. “That really interested me. It’s growing your own food for your own people.”

A milestone celebration

On May 2, Manidoka joined fellow Indigenous graduates at Laurier’s Indigenous Graduates Celebration, held at Gathering Place by the Grand at Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. The celebration included the presentation of Indigenous graduate stoles and a reception where students celebrated their academic accomplishments with loved ones.

“Even if it wasn’t in my home community, being surrounded by like-minded individuals was really great,” Manidoka says of the celebration. “It felt warm and inviting, and like a way to celebrate each other and our Indigenous graduates, which I feel is really important. It felt like the capstone on the undergrad journey, which is four years of your life that go by pretty fast.”

Manidoka pursued many academic interests during his undergraduate studies – biopsychology, social psychology and neuroscience among them – and worked as a research assistant with Professor Jeffery Jones, director of the Laurier Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, helping to establish a new research lab at Laurier’s Northdale location.

For now, Manidoka isn’t exactly sure what comes next – perhaps master’s studies – but says he’s happy to continue his work as a member of Laurier’s Indigenous Student Services team as he looks to the future.

“There’s a freedom side to graduating, but now I have people asking, ‘What are you doing next?’” says Manidoka. “I’m still figuring it out and that’s the fun part I guess.”