UBC Reports | Vol. 47 | No. 09 | May 10, 2001

Activism in the cards

When you grow up with campaigns in the kitchen, wanting to make a difference comes naturally

Nyranne Martin is immersed in the worldwide wave of activism. An excellent student with international experience, she dove into university life while earning a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.

"Political campaigns were run out of our kitchen back home in Toronto," she recalls. "I grew up with scrutineering, polling and current events."

"I didn't want my degree to be just a piece of paper," she says. "I love to learn but I want to impact and be of value to society. It's essential, however, to be certain that my ethics are sound."

Arriving with a Canadian Merit Foundation and UBC Outstanding Student Initiative scholarship, she already embodied UBC's commitment to internationalization.

While at her Francophone high school she volunteered in Zimbabwe and picked up Spanish while studying in Costa Rica.

"Languages helped me as a research assistant and translator at the Centre of Excellence at B.C.'s Women's and Children's hospitals," says Martin, who also rolled up her sleeves at The Ubyssey, UBC's student newspaper.

"The Ubyssey was my kind of community -- active, intelligent and opinionated," she says.

She has had articles published in UBC's Journal of Political Science on gender issues in Canadian peacekeeping in Bosnia and on Supreme Court rulings for the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women.

She will continue to write, but not work as a journalist.

"I've enrolled in law at the University of Toronto," says Martin. "I intend to travel a lot, but live, work and remain a political and social activist right here in Canada."