PhD graduate a true symbol of struggle, strength, and success
Before moving on to complete her PhD at the University of Guelph, Stephanie Zubcic graduated with both her undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Western Ontario. Participating in her second convocation, Zubcic remembers her father – a construction worker credited with the “manly-man” description – crying. “He just couldn’t stop. I didn’t know what was going on,” Zubcic explained of the special moment. “He composed himself and said, ‘Sitting in the audience, it’s the second time you’ve graduated and you’re doing your PhD, while your grandmother has never read or written a word – that’s what’s possible in one generation.’”
It hadn’t been an easy skip, run and jump along the yellow brick road to get there, however. Zubcic faced a significant number of challenges early on in both her personal and academic life. Passionate about philosophy in high school, where she graduated at the top of her class, counselors countered with the typical, “What are you going to do with that?” response, leading Zubcic to begin her post-secondary career in pre-law courses. “I really hated all my courses,” Zubcic explained. “I ended up failing out. I went back to school for the second year, and I failed out again. I actually failed out of the University of Western Ontario twice.” The PhD graduate added that during those two years, she had always taken an elective in philosophy, the one A+ that shined amongst the remaining C’s, D’s, and F’s.
After taking a year off, Zubcic realized the obvious solution to the problem. “I didn’t care what I was going to do with philosophy, it’s obviously where my passion was and that’s what I was going to do,” she explained, adding that after being kicked out twice, she only ever took philosophy courses.
A clear pride is evident in this story of struggle, and Zubcic has reasons for telling it. “One, it’s okay to fail. As an educator, a failure is something to celebrate – you obviously don’t want it to happen, but when it does it’s an opportunity to learn and do things differently,” said Zubcic. The second reason expands into her personal life, including her mother’s battle with mental illness for quite some time. “I had no idea there were resources I could go to that would help me,” Zubcic explained. “I want students to know there are places to go and people you can talk to that will help.”
Zubcic sent out only one application to complete her PhD, and that was to the University of Guelph – the best school in Canada for continental philosophy. “I thought, ‘well if I don’t get in, that’s okay because I wasn’t doing it to become a professor,’” Zubcic said of her mentality. “I was doing it to pursue my love for Philosophy.” The once two-time university fail out was given early acceptance to U of G, accompanied with a full scholarship.
Zubcic is now the founder of the non-profit organization, Children Reading for Children, with the mission to advance children’s rights to literacy and education worldwide. How it originated marks an important journey for Zubcic, who had been struggling with severe depression without medication her whole life, up until two years ago. Job stress coupled with mental illness led Zubcic to break away, heading for Europe. During this time Zubcic started reading about children’s rights and abuses around the world. “It just really struck me that children are the last group to fight for the right to have rights, to have a voice,” Zubcic explained.
When she returned home, Zubcic’s mother was in and out of the hospital with complications surrounding her mental illness. On June 10, 2011 (a day Zubcic will never forget), she went to Port Stanley Beach in St. Thomas, Ontario where Zubcic’s mother was having some tests done at the hospital. “I was reading and it just struck me,” Zubcic described of her defining moment. “Sitting there, reading, thinking about all these atrocities in the world and knowing the importance that education plays in that.” Zubcic went on to explain her ultimate realization: “It is my moral duty to secure and protect children’s literacy and education. As someone who is literate, I have a privilege, and with that privilege I also have an obligation to give that back. There it was – Children Reading for Children.”
Zubcic quickly joked that she had no idea where to begin. “How the hell was I going to do this?” she laughed. “Well, I’m happy to tell you, it’s only taken me two years but I think I’ve figured out how to make it work.”
Through true struggle and failure, Zubcic found herself and everything she chooses to stand for. It wasn’t easy, but with that came the ultimate success: having passion present in her life. “To say that it’s been a struggle would be an understatement, but I’m glad I took the time.” Zubcic explained, adding in important advice for students. “Do what you love and find what you’re passionate about; learning should be a joy. Break free from the ‘means to an end’ idea. You can rewrite yourself, so write your own story.”