Sachiel is a recent graduate from Wexford CI and is a visual artist and sculptor. 2024-2025 was his third year with the Black Student Summer Leadership Program, but his first time in the role of Peer Mentor. We interviewed Sachiel about his experience with the program.
Why did you choose to join the Black Student Summer Leadership Program?
When I first heard about it in Gr. 10, I heard about the experiential learning part, it felt revolutionary, it felt out of reach from where I was. It felt like you don’t usually get the opportunity to be in professional work, especially as a Black student. The aspect of learning specifically in the fields you're interested in was ground breaking for me. So I came back for a second year. My first placement was at TVO and my second placement was at Omnicom Media Group (OMG) where I gained a lot of connections. I came back for my third year, but as a Peer Mentor, as there are students I want to support in their Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) and their placements and I want to give back my own excellence to the program, here in my last year.
What are your academic and career goals?
Next year, I am going into Game Art at George Brown College, it is a three-year program. I have always been invested in video games for storytelling. I am also a sculptor. I see art everywhere now that we are downtown. Coming from Malvern Scarborough that is not something we generally have. Hopefully as an artist and sculptor I can help bring some of those things back to my community.
How has the program helped you?
It has exposed me to a lot of different avenues in terms of work and career paths. There is so much the program can offer you in terms of learning how to operate in the work space and how to do research. I don’t take for granted that I am surrounded by this great group of people and such Black excellence.
Where have you had experiential learning placements and what did you learn?
At TVO, during my first year I was able to get to talk with their game design team and that set me on the path towards my college education for the next three years. The staff told me about the pros and cons of the different academic institutions and programs. It was a good first placement.
OMG is a very large corporation, it is a big organization that operates globally. They gave everybody in our group a chance to have their voices heard. Coming back after my placement I was commissioned to do artwork for OMG. it was for their Badges of Belonging initiative. They have artists commissioned for significant times for different diverse groups. The artwork I did was to commemorate Black History month and was placed in offices in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal.
What advice do you have for other students wanting to join the Black Student Summer Leadership Program?
I would really just say to be open. Be open to the workshops. Be open to the placements even if it doesn't necessarily align to what you thought you wanted to do. With each placement I have learned something to help me with my future. Keep putting yourself out there.