Faith Olarinde wants to do more

During Research Day on May 14, first-year master’s student Faith Olarinde will receive the Ruth Asper Award in Kinesiology and Recreation Management. Established in 2003, the award helps support graduate student research and training within the faculty.

“It was very surreal and I was crying,” says Olarinde about finding out she received the award in November 2023. “It means so much that Ruth believed in my work enough to support it.”

For Olarinde, Asper’s belief in her work goes a long way in reassuring her she is on the right path. Olarinde says she often suffers from bouts of imposter syndrome, feeling like there is more she should be doing.

“I try to approach it by giving myself grace,” says Olarinde. “I just remind myself that I’m doing the best I can at the time.”

Time is something Olarinde is certainly making the most of. As her first year of graduate studies winds down, she prepares to continue her research and data collection in Dr. Rodrigo Villar’s Cardiorespiratory and Physiology of Exercise Research Lab. She also continues her work as a teacher’s assistant and recently started volunteering with Siloam Mission.

“It’s been so fun doing something different,” says Olarinde. “I just always feel like I can do more.”

During Research Day’s poster competition, Olarinde will also present her work, Differences in physiological responses to orthostatic stress challenges between long-covid and non-long-covid individuals. Olarinde says the event is an excellent opportunity for students and staff to connect and broaden their understanding of the work happening across different labs.

“Kinesiology and recreation are very broad, and there are so many different aspects of them,” says Olarinde. “It’s a great way to find people and see what others are doing.”

Research Day will include several events, including an Indigenous history walk, speaker panels, a poster and Three-Minute Thesis competitions and a keynote talk by Dr. Heather Gainforth, an associate professor at UBC Okanagan.

Olarinde will deliver the land acknowledgement at the start of the event in addition to competing and receiving an award.

“I am looking forward to that,” says Olarinde. “I think it will be fun to see everyone again.”

Research Day is an all-day event on May 14, beginning at 8:30 a.m. and concluding at 4:00 p.m. with an awards ceremony and reception. All members of the UM community are welcome to join FKRM at the free event throughout the day.

Connor Boyd