Burlington, Ont. (via Hayley McGoldrick) - Austin Nzige-Nyambok knew that when he stepped foot onto the Algoma University campus for the first time in 2023 that he wanted to make an impact both on and off the basketball court.
A then fourth-year transfer from Olds College in Alberta, Nzige-Nyambok had originally left his hometown of Markham, Ontario, to play National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III college basketball at the University of Rochester.
However, he suffered a concussion in the YellowJackets' final preseason game, leaving him unable to play basketball, losing part of his identity as a student-athlete. Through his recovery back to the court, he has found passions off it, making a difference for students of colour, for those struggling with their mental health, and overall making the Sault Ste. Marie community a better place.
"I've become involved in food drives, helping out with charity events, giving out free haircuts to bring the community together and then have conversations about positive change in the community and things of that nature," said Nzige-Nyambok.
"I always speak about my mother, growing up in a single parent household and seeing the way she went about life, she's a first-generation immigrant. She came here from Kenya, East Africa, and she made it her mission, not only to look after the people that she considered family, but to look after the people back home that had that have less. That caused the ripple effect in the community that we lived in, even here in Canada."
Despite only being at the school for two years, Nzige-Nyambok prioritized the initiatives he is passionate about just as much as he prioritized academics and athletics, which shone in his efforts with the university.
These initiatives include EDI initiatives like Black History Month, Youth Life International Relief, his mother's non-profit organization that started his involvement in community initiatives, and STRIVE (Success Takes Realizing Intricate Avenues Everywhere): A People's Movement, an organization/social movement that Nzige-Nyambok created in 2017, founded on spreading messages of love, compassion, and selflessness.
"Every initiative I participate in, community I interact with, and event I am a part of is done with the ideals of STRIVE in mind. I am a representation of this movement and its concepts, and do my best to incorporate everything it has taught me into all aspects of my life," said Nzige-Nyambok.
"Being an individual of colour, I am a continuous advocate for other individuals of colour – throughout campuses, outside of school, community and everything. For my school, specifically, in the month of February, these last two years, we do media content [for BHM], I speak on my views regarding Black History Month and what that means for all people, not just black people."
For Nzige-Nyambok however, being Black runs beyond just one month a year, and is an everyday opportunity to educate and uplift other students around him and create events and initiatives to give back the same was his mother had before him.
"I do that stuff throughout the entirety of the year, whether that be speaking to people, being a part of different events, creating different events of my own. [My mother] runs her own nonprofit organization, connecting people from Canada, people in Africa, providing children in Africa with things like mosquito nets, sexual education, contraception, all those types of stuff," he said.
"Growing up in that environment, you just come to realize how important it is to spread the message of positivity, love and kindness and compassion, even though they are simple concepts, they are the fabric that holds this world together… I make sure that I stay connected to that concept by being a part of these initiatives and speak to people. I personally don't ever want it to get away from me. I believe in it every single day."
While his two years at Algoma have flown by quickly, with the fifth-year senior graduating this year, he knows that he has laid a foundation for others to build upon and continue to share his message, and in turn his mother's, of positivity and paying it forward as much as possible.
"I do know that there are a number of people throughout the world that share the same sort of perspective and are involved in the same sort of things, but it should not deteriorate me from being that person in my own small community. I'm making sure that I take the initiative to play that leadership role, to be that person of community because I feel like that concept of 'If I don't do it, who will?' but if I do it, then maybe people will join," said Nzige-Nyambok.
His legacy may carry far beyond his name, but all that Nzige-Nyambok hopes for in the future is seeing others take over the roles he held, continuing the initiatives he planted, and having an impact on the bigger Sault Ste. Marie and Algoma community.
Nzige-Nyambok says that while he was always taught these principles growing up, that the support of Algoma and the greater OUA made these types of initiatives possible, and while there is always more work to be doing, he knows that they helped him succeed in his post-secondary journey.
"I do feel supported, having conversations get created, and ideas start turning, I feel like once we can head in that direction, then it makes like it just has an even greater effect. At Algoma, I just hope that just more and more people get involved, they're more and more involved in the events that the school puts on, and that the content that they put out, people are more understanding," said Nzige-Nyambok.
"As a result, there's a little bit more love that is spread at the end of the day. That's kind of what my mantra is in life. Just spreading love in general, I think that in its purest form, that's what everybody kind of needs. As long as there are more people getting involved and more attention, and it's taken more seriously continually and growing to that fullest extent, then I feel like everything I've done was for something."
