Siobhan Dooley

Siobhan – pronounced Shi-Von – grew up in northern Ontario in a town called Sioux Lookout.  When she was young, she liked math, science and sports. One of her teachers told her about engineering, and it sounded interesting to her.

“I enjoy problem solving and I had an idea that engineering involved a lot of problem solving,” says Siobhan.

Siobhan decided to go to school in southern Ontario to study engineering.  She started at Queen’s University in 2007, where she ended up studying chemical engineering.

At Queen’s Siobhan got help in her studies from the people working at the Four Directions Indigenous Student Centre.  There she found people like her – other Indigenous students with busy lives and choices to make about their futures.  She made friends with people, and encourages younger students to do the same.

“Studying at university is not easy. It’s very different from high school.  You have to put in a lot of effort,” she says. “You have to find your community who will help you in the hard times and celebrate with you when you are successful.”

Siobhan’s dedication and hard work paid off.  She graduated in 2012 and has a job as an engineer-in-training in Sudbury, Ontario. She also still enjoys sports. When she’s not at work, you can find her playing hockey, volleyball or even roller derby!