Sarah Shaw,
MSc AHN
“I wanted to be part of
something bigger and felt that this program and the professors in
this department would foster that type of experience for me.”
Sarah Lake is a graduate
student, a teacher, and researcher. This St. Francis Xavier graduate was first
drawn to the Mount’s Master of Science in Applied Human Nutrition because the
program offered small class sizes, the option to complete the Internship
Education Program, and the chance to work at a leading school in community and
action-based research.
“Isaw
my participation in this program as an opportunity to engage in
upstream approaches to health and nutrition,” she says. “I suppose I wanted to
be part of something bigger and felt that this program and
the professors in this department would foster that type of experience for
me.”
Intersecting passions: Research, social justice,
nutrition and health
As a student in the MSc
AHN program, Sarah has worked as a research assistant on several projects,
seeing firsthand how community-based research can translate into action and
change.
“My work and involvement
with FoodARC (Food Action Research Centre) has certainly been a highlight
of my time in this program,” says Sarah. “Under the mentorship of Dr.
Patricia Williams (a professor in the nutrition department and the director of
FoodARC) I have been able to build my capacity as a researcher and
future health professional. She has instilled in me a passion for
issues of social justice and a realization for how these issues
intersect with nutrition and health.”
Personal and professional growth
Sarah’s work with the
FoodARC has been both a valuable professional experience, as well as a
personally transformative one. She feels that she’s grown as an individual, and
that she’s now well equipped to enter whatever role or opportunity
that may present itself in the future.
“My experiences through
this degree have certainly strengthened my personal convictions,
values and beliefs of what determines health—something that will always
influence the ways in which I approach my role as a professional.”
While Sarah ranks the research
opportunities that came with her MSc AHN program as one of the most rewarding
aspects of her studies, she’s also enjoying a new challenge: teaching. Last
year, Sarah joined the Applied Human Nutrition faculty as a part-time
instructor. And she hopes that the professional experience she’s gained in both
teaching and research will help pave the way for a future career as a university
professor.
“What this degree
has enabled me to do is to find my passion - where I ‘fit’ within the field of
nutrition and dietetics.”