To say that Christie Silversides is involved in campus life would be an understatement.
At last month's Student Impact Awards, the Scarborough native was awarded the Malcom Honour Award, presented to one student annually to recognize their outstanding and impactful extracurricular contributions in the community.
Christie, a fourth-year Health Promotion student, recently completed her first-class honours thesis which explored people’s perceptions of what it means to be healthy once they have been diagnosed with a degenerative disorder such as Parkinson’s disease.
“When diagnosed with a degenerative disease, people begin to view health differently,” she explains. “Through my research I have been finding that peoples’ perceptions of what being healthy means often shifts away from a heavy focus on exercise and healthy eating; people often begin to place more emphasis on their mental wellness and social support networks.”
Outside of the classroom, Christie has taken on many leadership roles including student life event coordinator for Dal After Dark, outreach ambassador for Science Discovery Days, orientation week leader, food bank volunteer and student success coach. She is also a member of the steering committee for the Annual Maritime Parkinson’s Education and Awareness Conference and the Dalhousie Student Leadership Conference.
“I have had many positive experiences and opportunities,” she says. “I volunteer as a way to provide fellow students with similar experiences.”
Additionally, Christie is co-founder of the Dalhousie Arctic Society, which she and fellow student Aaron Taylor created to bring attention to Northern Canadian issues including food security and access to necessary health care services.
A graduate of Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts, Christie has been a strong student leader during her time at Dalhousie. Following her graduation this spring, she will return to Dalhousie in the fall to pursue her master’s degree in health promotion during which she hopes to explore access to culturally appropriate health care in northern communities.