Mahé Rabesa is a CCAA Torchbearer
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Mahé Rabesa has embraced all aspects of the student-athlete experience and sought to help others overcome barriers. For enhancing the lives of her campus colleagues, Rabesa is a 2022-23 recipient of the CCAA Torchbearer Scholarship, presented by Hudl. Rabesa, of Rivière-Du-Loup, Quebec, is a Law & Civilization (Math) student at Champlain College Saint-Lambert and a point guard with the Cavaliers Women’s Basketball team.
“I created these workshops because I wanted to make cooking more accessible so that young people stop thinking it is expensive, too time consuming and challenging,” said Rabesa. “I started with the intention of helping my teammates learn these new skills but then offered them to all students because I thought that knowing how to cook well, efficiently, and quickly should be available for everyone.” Rebesa approached a local grocery store called ‘Les Semeurs’ with the idea of introducing easy, valuable and inexpensive cooking to young people who are living independently. The chefs from ‘Les Semeurs’ gave tips on how to prepare food, save time, and store meals properly. Each workshop focused on a specific aspect such as preparing vegetarian meals and how to efficiently use resources so that cooking is always successful. “The goal of the workshops was for students to understand what to buy at the grocery store and how to use it well in the kitchen; in short, I want young people to become more autonomous and adopt better diets,” said Rebesa.
“I was immediately impressed by Mahé for her desire and determination to take part in the campus community outside of the walls of academics and athletics,” said Wanita Jones, Psychologist and Leadership Coordinator at Champlain College. “Due to her outreach, she succeeded in building bridges between diverse communities on campus that we have tried to create for quite some time.” Through these groups, Rebesa has helped lead experiential activities on implicit biases in the classroom, at Pedagogical day activities and assisted in “Let’s Get Real” discussion forums. She led numerous outreach events from Orientation Day, Open Houses, Parent’s Nights as well as free block activities. She helped organize and plan Black History Month on campus and has challenged the culture of the college to grow into a more inclusive and equitable community. “Mahé’s multidisciplinary talents and interests have generated a scope of outreach that I have never seen before, and she has raised the bar of what student involvement means,” said Jones.
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Rabesa launched the Community Kitchen Workshop to develop food autonomy among students, highlight local and seasonal products, and reduce food waste. Through conversations with her teammates, she realized that many were living on their own for the first time and no longer had their parents’ guidance to rely on. The workshops taught the students what foods are beneficial and essential to consume, how to use the entirety of their resources (ex. all parts of a chicken) and how to do so at an affordable price.
Aside from the Community Kitchen Workshop, Rabesa has been a leader with several Champlain College Community groups including the Multicultural Crew, Black Lives Allyship Mission, and she recently helped launch the Feminist Awareness Mission.
