Brandon Rhéal Amyot Uplifts Students and Communities
"I love to bake—it's my escape and one of the ways that I express caring," says Brandon Rhéal Amyot, a soon-to-be graduate of Lakehead Orillia's Bachelor of Arts and Science in Interdisciplinary Studies program. "When I was a kid, my mom and I would bring trays of baked goods to our neighbours during the holidays."
In elementary school, Brandon's baking abilities helped take them in a new direction after a teacher recommended they attend an Ontario Educational Leadership Centre (OELC) summer camp. "I'm from a working-class family," Brandon explains, "so I spent months baking cookies and selling them at recess to raise money to attend OELC—my mum would find me baking at midnight."
Brandon (second from left) attended Georgian College and Carleton University before coming to Lakehead. They will be graduating with a Bachelor of Arts and Science in Interdisciplinary Studies in June 2025. This unique degree gave them the opportunity to study political science, media, film, and communications.
Brandon's sense of civic engagement is a thread that runs throughout their life. Today, they are an inspiring intersectional activist focused on youth, postsecondary education, media, and the 2SLGBTQ+ and Indigenous communities. They spent 10 years volunteering with Fierté Simcoe Pride—a grassroots organization that advocates for the 2SLGBTQ+ community—before becoming the VP Orillia of the Lakehead University Student Union (LUSU).
"I always ask myself, 'How can I fight for students, for Lakehead, and for equity?' I had to fight to open the door to postsecondary education for myself, and I want to leave it open for others. Although I'm the first person in my family to go to college or university, I hope I won't be the last."
Brandon enrolled at Lakehead Orillia because "it's an interdisciplinary campus by design. I didn't want to go to school simply to get a job. I wanted to become a lifelong learner and build skills to uplift communities, and interdisciplinary studies lend themselves to that." Brandon believes there's real power in students working together. "It's what enabled us to open LUSU Orillia's Food Pantry—an emergency food resource for students in need that's served over 2,200 students since opening in October 2022. The Food Pantry is one of my proudest achievements because I've struggled with food security at certain points.
"After Lakehead, I feel much more prepared to be part of the world and to take on the world," Brandon says. "I owe that to my family, friends, and instructors who've encouraged me to stay the path." Photo credit: Jessica Owen
With the increasing wealth inequality and the social and political challenges gripping us, we need to step up in any way we can," adds Brandon, who recently joined the City of Orillia's Poverty Reduction Working Group. They have also officially launched their career, even though they are still a month away from graduation.
"I've been hired as LUSU's first governance and advocacy officer, supporting student leaders, the union, and our university community. I'm also working part-time with the Paapiiwaaniimaan Grassy Narrows Mercury Care Home as an executive assistant with their Operational Planning Committee. These roles are both close to my heart and offer me a way to give back.
We have to take bold risks as students, faculty, staff, and community members, and do it with grit and with love. That's the whole purpose of higher education—Lakehead instilled in me that a rising tide lifts all boats."
Aseel Hashim, Master of Public Health candidate and graduate research assistant in the Department of Health Sciences, recently founded BIPOC Outdoor Adventures at Lakehead University with a generous $5,500 grant from the Thunder Bay Community Foundation.