First-generation student makes the most of post-secondary education
Nathan Anania Emmanuel, pictured at the Ted Rogers School of Management, credits the Marwah Family Award for First-Generation Students for helping him succeed at Ryerson. Photo: Alia Youssef.
Ryerson business student Nathan Anania Emmanuel鈥檚 parents moved to Canada from Ethiopia before he was born. They couldn鈥檛 afford the time or cost of higher education for themselves, so they focused on encouraging their children鈥檚 schooling. Emmanuel鈥檚 father worked six days as a taxi driver to support him and his sister. When Emmanuel would come home feeling dejected from a disappointing test result, his mother would say, 鈥渒nowledge is like a passport, it should never leave you.鈥�
His parents saw education as so much bigger than grades. It would give their children a strong foundation to find their place in their new country with confidence; it would help them problem solve, navigate cultural differences, and get through tough times.
Emmanuel, the recipient of the $5,000 Marwah Family Award for first-generation students, always dreamed of going to university, but he didn鈥檛 know if he鈥檇 make it. 鈥淯niversity, to me, was not guaranteed,鈥� he says. He didn鈥檛 have the luxury of bringing homework questions to his parents for help, given English was their second language and they were educated in a very different system. 鈥淚 had to rely on myself to develop the discipline to learn.鈥�
He is not only the first one in his household to attend university, he鈥檚 also the only one of his five cousins in North America to attend university upon completing high school.
Emmanuel chose Ryerson鈥檚 business program because he鈥檇 heard it had a great reputation, and he felt his leadership and discipline skills were well suited to business. 鈥淚 was focusing on my strengths,鈥� he says. He loves that Ryerson is located right downtown, 鈥渋n a city where dreams come true.鈥� He adds, 鈥淚鈥檝e made great friends, I鈥檝e had great professors and I've learned from serious professionals in various industries.鈥�
Emmanuel sees his undergraduate degree as an opportunity 鈥渢o find out who you are as a person.鈥� In that pursuit, he鈥檚 worked alongside other students to organize Student Life events, he took a position as a research assistant in his entrepreneurship department, and he鈥檚 visited China, Germany, Turkey and Washington, D.C., on trips made available through various Ryerson organizations for exceptional business students and student leaders.
鈥淲hen you go to international countries and you have to create a business solution for a problem in an international market that you aren't familiar with, you really have to draw from all you鈥檝e learned in your textbooks and course work over the years. It鈥檚 pretty amazing to be able to pull together different pieces of your knowledge,鈥� he says.
Emmanuel credits the Marwah Family Award for First-Generation Students, which he received in his third and fourth years, for allowing him to focus on both his studies and his extracurricular learning. 鈥淚t鈥檚 removed the stress I would have had trying to keep up with part time work and do well in school,鈥� he says, 鈥渁nd it gave me the assurance that I鈥檓 meant to be here and what I鈥檓 doing is the right thing for me.鈥�
When he graduates, Emmanuel hopes to go to Ethiopia and look for opportunities in foreign direct investment. Emmanuel has visited his country twice, and says he wants to give back to help his parents鈥� home country. 鈥淚 see how progressive the country is becoming ... the Ethiopian diaspora now has an opportunity to utilize what we鈥檝e learned, take our human capital, and help develop it holistically.鈥�
Find out more at Ryerson Access to Education.
Related stories:
The importance of maintaining access to education
One student鈥檚 efforts to improve access to education within the LatinX community