Student Profile: Kathleen O'Brien

Kathleen O'Brien stands among flags at the recent G-20 Youth Summit in Toronto. She is coming to Saint Mary's in the fall to take International Development and play on the Women's Huskies Hockey Team.

When Saint Mary’s newest hockey recruit follows a puck into the corner, she’s ready to be as tough as necessary to control the play.

Kathleen O’Brien likes to be in control off ice too, but when it comes to problem solving, the political science and international development major prefers negotiation and compromise to bumping hips and flying elbows.

That difference was driven home earlier this summer when the 18 year-old from Yellowknife attended the G-8 and G-20 meetings in Toronto as a youth delegate. During four days in late June she saw some groups try and influence world leaders by presenting them with well argued, well reasoned position papers. She saw others though, trying to score points with violence, destroying police cruisers and smashing windows.

“The protests that got ugly, really detracted from their effectiveness. People were talking about what they did, not what they stood for. They also diminished the peaceful and legitimate efforts of other protestors because that message disappeared behind the wail of sirens, images of cruisers burning and police in riot gear.”

O’Brien witnessed the violence first hand as one of 13 Canadian high school students participating in an international student held to discuss the same four key issues the leaders were discussing: maternal health, nuclear proliferation, climate change and food security.

“It was amazing to work with people my own age from around the world. There were lots of different perspectives around the table, but we negotiated a common position and put together some great ideas which were passed along to the leaders,” she said.

“These weren’t pie in the sky suggestions. These were feasible, cost effective alternative solutions. I think we were just as effective as the G-8 leaders in coming up with solutions.

The group’s most important meeting was held in Muskoka during the G8, but the group followed the leaders to Toronto and held meetings and listened to presentations as the G20 leaders gathered. O’Brien said they were behind the fence with the leaders and at one point she said was less than 20 feet from US president Barak Obama chatted casually with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

O’Brien’s closest brush with protestors came one evening as the group was going to a special dinner at the Toronto Library. She said organizers learned protestors were in the area and they were urged to hide their accreditation, remove any pins or memorabilia “and get into the building as quickly as possible.”

The dinner went off without incident, but she said a tour of the Toronto financial district the morning after the initial riots “was unworldly.”

“The area was locked down so it was eerily quiet. There was intimidating graffiti on everything and all the banks were boarding up their windows. It was spooky.”
O’Brien said the youth summit experience opened her eyes not only to the power of youth but the vital importance of negotiation and compromise as a means of moving a meaningful project forward. As a consequence, she hopes her time at Saint Mary’s may now lead her to a position with the Foreign Service or perhaps with the United Nations.

While hockey and studies may take up much of her time on campus, she said will now try to make time for some student politics, perhaps as the local rep for the World Food Program or as a member of the Atlantic Chapter of World Vision, the non-profit agency that helped organize the Ontario summits.

O’Brien has been playing hockey since she could walk. She met first Huskies Coach Lisa Jordan at a hockey camp when she was eight years-old. She has played in summer leagues at Saint Mary’s for a couple of years and was invited in January to be part of the team in September.

“She’s is not a flashy, offensive-minded player, but plays the game with the passion and attitude I love to see,” said Jordan. “She will bring many intangible qualities to the hockey program, and will become a key person in setting the right example for others to follow. “

Both her parents are Saint Mary’s grads and she said she’s sure it is the perfect school for her to pursue her dreams – both on ice and off.

This page last modified Friday, 14-Jan-2011 14:14:00 AST