抖阴APP导航

Research comes in many forms and one of the most surprising can be the personal growth it brings. For Nick Basilio, a second-year kinesiology student who was awarded funds through the Program for Undergraduate Research (PURE) at 抖阴APP导航, the research was not only personal 鈥� it was also therapeutic.

鈥淚 never expected to heal from this experience. I thought research didn't go beyond academics and I didn鈥檛 know it could interact with and change things in your personal life,鈥� Basilio says.

Basilio鈥檚 research project centred on his experiences as a queer, racialized athlete growing up in a small town in Saskatchewan. Through reflections on his own experience and looking at current gaps in literature, Basilio discovered there鈥檚 a long way to go in exploring the intersections of sexuality and race in sport.

鈥淢y purpose was to change the lives of other queer racialized athletes鈥� lives, but what surprised me was that the academic validation and self-validation was nothing compared to the healing in the end.鈥�

Mostly, he鈥檚 proud of telling his story.

鈥淪ome of the stories I wrote about have defined who I am today. I鈥檓 literally taking a part of my life and putting it out to the world that nobody knows. So, it鈥檚 scary. But when I think about the reward, from that risk, it鈥檚 the impact that my story or the impact I wish my story will have on other people that I鈥檓 proud of.鈥� 

Mentoring undergraduate researchers

Basilio worked with Dr. Willian Bridel, PhD, associate dean (academic) and an associate professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology.

鈥淚鈥檓 always so humbled when undergrad students come and ask me if I鈥檇 be interested in supervising them because they put such trust in me as a supervisor. And because of the highly personal nature of Nick鈥檚 work, to have him approach me and ask if I would support him through the process is really meaningful,鈥� Bridel says.

Bridel, who has previous experience supervising undergraduate researchers, says that he always learns from, and is inspired by, the students he works with.

鈥淎sking Nick to really dig into his own experiences and knowing, having done that kind of work myself, how difficult that can be, it鈥檚 inspiring me to be the best mentor I could possibly be for him through the process,鈥� Bridel says.

Research experience

For Basilio, being able to participate in PURE taught him much about the nature of research.

鈥淚 learned that research requires a lot of patience and that it鈥檚 not always binary, it鈥檚 not necessarily easy or hard,鈥� he says.

鈥淲ith research, you honestly have to go into it without certain expectations because it鈥檚 always changing and, in my experience, that鈥檚 a good thing.鈥�

And, in the end, Basilio says that the personal growth he experienced was the most validating part of the program.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not easy. There were times when I felt my story wasn鈥檛 valid. I had imposter syndrome most of the summer but as long as you remember what your purpose was for the research and why you鈥檙e doing it in the first place, that鈥檚 what shows your research.鈥�