Adam Longboat captures co-op student of the year awards

The Insurance graduate is the second Mohawk College student in a row to win honours at the provincial and national levels.

Adam Longboat’s initiative around Truth and Reconciliation activities at his co-op placement helped to earn him provincial and national co-op student of the year awards for 2022.

Longboat, who has since graduated from Mohawk’s Insurance program, earned the awards through Experiential and Work Integrated Learning Ontario and Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated 
Learning Canada.

Last year, Brittany Gaudet won both awards and Longboat is Mohawk’s third winner since the awards were instituted in 2010. Longboat, who is Indigenous, completed his co-op at Swiss Reinsurance in Toronto and made his mark there, said his nominator and supervisor, Dipika Deol.

“He surpassed the responsibilities of his role as a co-op student, contributing to other functional areas and to the evolution of our culture. Under our guidance as his manager and sponsor, Adam successfully applied himself, shaping his co-op term by proposing his own agenda, projects, and content for (inclusion and diversity) initiatives,” she wrote.

He played a key role in Swiss Reinsurance’s week of events to observe the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. He invited elders to talk about residential schools and the history of the Haudenosaunee people.

Longboat also shared his own experiences with anti-Indigenous racism. “I just want people to understand where Indigenous people are coming from, why people feel hurt,” Longboat said in a Hamilton Spectator story about his co-op awards.

“I just want my kids to grow up in a world where people understand.” Among his other accomplishments during his co-op, he prepared a briefing document about permafrost in Canada and engaged with a treaty client to understand the historical and present context around insurance products for Indigenous communities.

“Adam has been very easy to get to know. He’s friendly, approachable and shares his thoughts and questions. He’s a strong team player,” wrote Deol.

Longboat, a father of two, came to Mohawk as a mature student after working as a welder. He was forced to look for another career after suffering a serious injury in an industrial accident. He was selected by his professors to represent students on the program advisory committee due to his academic performance, contributions in the classroom, and the respect he earned from his peers.

The provincial co-op award comes with $500 and the national award comes with $1,500. 

This story originally appeared in Momentum Magazine.