Amina El mantari stole the show when she crossed the stage to speak at Capilano University last October.
She had been invited to give a speech at a ceremony formally welcoming and installing the university’s new president, Paul Dangerfield.
Although she was still a few months away from finishing her own degree, she spoke persuasively of education’s power to create unity and empowerment, a message she takes with her wherever she goes.
“As students, we invest our time, money and resources to gain knowledge. We aim to graduate and be ready to make change in the world,” she remarked during her speech. “Today we mark a new beginning by gathering in unity and empowerment.”
El mantari, who is originally from Morocco, spoke at the installation ceremony as a student who wears many hats: as an international student, a community volunteer, a mother, an advocate for the student experience, and as a passionate North Shore resident who lives in the Parkgate area.
But not trying to be all things to all people, she acknowledged during the ceremony that “every student experience is different, so I believe that the best thing I can do is share a little of my story with you.”
On the surface her story might not seem extraordinary, as El mantari is one of more than 1,000 international students who attends CapU every year.
But it would be impressive to encounter a student – any student – who thrives on education and rises to the challenge as much as she has.
“Education, I find, is the key for me to integrate in the society and to learn about my community. It just opens so many doors. I felt so happy,” she says in an interview.
This June, El mantari will cross CapU’s stage once again, this time during her convocation ceremony for the business degree she successfully completed in December.
She first started her degree in 2012 and during that time embraced every opportunity afforded to her at school and throughout the community.
But the road to get there was a challenging one.
When El mantari first came to Canada in 2006, she frequently felt alone and isolated.
She was unsure how to connect with her new country and as a single mother she experienced challenges in raising her daughter in a place she often felt estranged in.
“I overcame many obstacles. Basically, being a single mother was one of the things for me that was challenging. However, having my daughter and studying was inspiring for me and empowering by focusing on my school and taking care of her,” she says.
El mantari is a positive person. She takes life’s challenges and spins them into positives.
She doesn’t want to stop learning, either – and her outlook appears to be infectious.
El mantari reports that her mother back in Morocco, who never got the opportunity to learn how to read or write, has since gone back to school, inspired by her daughter’s successes abroad.
As the youngest of 10 children back home, El mantari’s independence and scholastic achievement is a great source of pride for her family.
“I did a coaching session for her and I said, ‘OK, what do you want to do in your life?’ And she finds out that she wants to study, she wants to learn, and I felt so happy with that,” El mantari explains.
Her mother has been in a program to improve her literacy for more than a year now. In conversation with El mantari, who is now 33 years old, it becomes clear that education is not only a means of self-empowerment but also a way to connect with others.
Her concentration during her business degree was human resources, a field she likes because it allows her to interact with people working in all different areas or departments at an organization.
She was also elected to the Capilano Students’ Union, serving as its vice-president of internal development and has also been an active volunteer for years, preferring to help out at the North Shore Crisis Services Society in her spare time instead of merely kicking back.
“Through volunteering you get to know people, you get to connect with them, you get to empower them, and also by empowering them you empower yourself,” she says.
El mantari’s former teachers sing her praises as well.
“For me, Amina is the epitome of the positive, engaged student,” says CapU School of Business instructor Alan Fraser. “I admire her dedication to making a positive impact in the community.”
Looking ahead, El mantari is excited for this month’s convocation ceremony but admits she is already prepared to be a student again. She’s studying to get into law school, a dream of hers for many years, and plans to write her LSAT exam as soon as she can.
When El mantari does find spare time, she likes to take advantage of all that Deep Cove and the North Shore has to offer, which is often a welcome respite from the daily challenges of being a student.
Coming from Morocco, hiking was a novelty for her. She took to it as soon as she could upon arriving in Canada, eventually mustering the confidence to join a hiking group in order to make new friends.
“My weekly thing is the Quarry Rock,” she explains.“That’s something that I do in my spare time, whether it’s rain or shine. And in the summertime I go camping and I go meet friends. I like to explore. There are a lot of things to see.”
