Undergrad brought small-town sense of community everywhere she went at Mac

Jessica Yemen was feeling conflicted during the six-hour drive to McKay Hall.

She couldn’t wait to move into residence and start her first year at Mac but knew it would be a big change from her small-town roots.

The City of Hamilton and McMaster dwarfed her hometown of Petawawa. The town has just over 18,000 residents while there are more than 37,500 Mac students and close to 600,000 Hamiltonians. She hadn’t toured the campus because of COVID restrictions and had never visited the city.

She’d gone to small schools in Petawawa where everyone knew everyone and looked out for each other.  “Growing up, there was such a strong sense of community. I was really nervous about finding my place at Mac.” She only knew one other person from Petawawa who went to McMaster. There were also some practical concerns. “I’d never even taken public transit in my life – our town doesn’t have any buses.”

Jessica had originally planned on going to a smaller university in a smaller city closer to home. But those plans changed and McMaster became her first choice because of its reputation for academics and athletics.

She started running in Grade 6 and never stopped. She’d long dreamed of joining a varsity cross-country and track team so becoming a McMaster Marauder was a big deal.

Jessica also had a passion for math and science – she’d competed in science fairs since elementary school and was a three-time Canada-Wide Science Fair finalist by the end of high school. Her marks earned Jessica a McMaster Award of Excellence Entrance Scholarship and she’d go on to receive the Ernest Robert MacKenzie Kay Scholarship in her third and fourth years for outstanding academic achievement.

Her worries during the drive from Petawawa proved unwarranted. As soon as Jessica settled into McKay Hall, she began finding and bringing that small-town sense of community everywhere she went, starting with her roommate and newfound friends in residence.  It continued as a student in Life Sciences and Biology, athlete on the McMaster Marauder cross-country and track team,  Welcome Week volunteer, student mentor, campus tour guide, project assistant in the Faculty of Science’s Office of Undergraduate Research and member of biology professor Graham Scott’s research group.

“If there was something I wanted to do, I just went ahead and did it. And while I didn’t know anyone at first, I made it my mission to meet people and make friends”.

Spending a summer working in the Faculty of Science’s Office of Undergraduate Research after her second year led to two-year stint with Graham’s research group.  Sajeni Mahalingam, the office’s program manager at the time, had previously worked with Graham and thought his research lined up with Jessica’s interests.

“I asked Sajeni how I could get involved in research as an undergrad and she encouraged me to reach out to Graham about volunteering in his lab.”  Graham welcomed Jessica into his lab and put her to work with a grad student during the fall term and a postdoctoral fellow during the winter term.

In her final year at Mac, Jessica became a fourth-year undergraduate thesis student in Graham’s lab, researching evolved changes in pulmonary vascular function in high-altitude deer mice. She presented her research thesis at Ontario Biology Day – “it brought back science fair memories” – and won the Canadian Society of Zoologists best poster award.

“Jessica did one of the best and most productive undergrad thesis projects that I’ve ever had the pleasure of supervising,” says Graham. “She was an absolutely outstanding student.”

Jessica’s now back in Petawawa after spending the previous two summers working at McMaster. She looks forward to working outdoors all day – she was one of those kids who had to be called in for dinner every night – along with training for track and getting back into karate.  “It’s been a long time since I’ve been back home for an extended stay. I’ve missed it and I’m excited to spend time with my family and friends”.

She’s waiting to hear back on applications to grad school at Mac and professional schools in big and small cities. “It’s not going to be an easy decision – I’d love to do both.”

Regardless of what happens next, Jessica will remain a Best Buddy. She joined the student club in her second year – it pairs Mac students with adults in the community who have intellectual and developmental disabilities. The club is part of a national charity that promotes inclusion by creating one-to-one friendships. In May 2023, Jessica became the club’s special events coordinator, organizing and facilitating group events for all the students and their buddies.

“I was welcomed into so many communities at Mac and Best Buddies was a way to return the favour.”

Jessica’s buddy lives on her own in an apartment near campus. All through undergrad, they talked every week on the phone and met up every month. Jessica looked forward to those conversations and get-togethers. “We became really good friends and we’ve both promised to keep in touch.”

It’s one way that Jessica’s staying true to her small town roots.