Q: Tell us a bit about yourself.  

My name is Destin-Jay Monias, and I am from Whapmagoostui First Nation, Quebec, just on the coast of Hudson’s Bay. I am a secondary 5 student in a small school. I love playing hockey, I play goalie. I like going to school, my favorite subjects are math and physics. Anytime I see a problem, I try to fix it or see the answer and figure out where I went wrong. Figuring out how formulas work and the relationship with other formulas is something I find interesting. 

Q: Why do you want to participate in the Shad program/What are you most looking forward to?  

There is no actual science class with labs or anything in my school. Since I was small, I always knew I was into the sciences and math, but I do not know exactly what field I will find the most interesting. I am hoping that this program is where I will discover what I want to do in the future. 

Q: What motivates or sparks your curiosity in STEAM and/or entrepreneurship?  

I always really liked math and recently started taking physics class, which motivates me to learn more about science. I have found civil engineering and environmental engineering the most interesting because I want to keep the land as it is. My Cree roots come from learning from the land, and it is very important to me that these lands are safe from human activity that could potentially harm it. 

Q: How do you envision your future? 

I envision my future to include working in the field of engineering and bringing that knowledge back to my community. More specifically, civil engineering where I can see where the structures are built and find out the effects on the environment. Furthermore, I always love to see something built from nothing. A building can be built with one mind, someone who sees a vision. I hope to one day have that mind where I can envision a structure and have it built by me or see something that I envisioned, being built.