When Eve Dewing decided to come to Dalhousie, the choice had a lot to do with the university’s location.
“I’ve always loved the East Coast and knew I wanted to study out here,” says Eve, who came to Dal from Calgary, Alberta.
Dal’s central location served as the perfect vantage point from which to explore the city, which Eve wasted no time getting started on by going for a walk around the city during Orientation Week. That walk was also where they met the person who, to this day, remains their best friend.
I’ve always loved the East Coast and knew I wanted to study out here.
Naturally, Eve was drawn to the Dalhousie Outdoors Society (DOS).
“DOS provided so much freedom to plan the trips I wanted to while giving access to funding and transportation,” says Eve, who served as a trip leader and executive committee member with the student group.
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Eve met even more friends through the society and saw other parts of Nova Scotia they otherwise would not have seen. They also found it fulfilling to make that accessible to other students.
While getting outside was top of mind for Eve, they also decided to explore when it came to academics. Sociology felt most natural at first.
“I knew I wanted to study sociology since the ninth grade,” says Eve. “My social studies teacher got me interested in social issues and I figured sociology was a good way to stay on that path.”
An Anthropology elective in first year proved an important detour, though.
“I fell in love with it and decided to follow that path instead!”
They joined the Sociology & Social Anthropology (SOSA) society in their first year at Dal, taking on the role of financial manager before stepping into the role of president in second year. They became more involved with event planning, elections, and coordinating the executive committee, a role they held for two consecutive years.
Giving back
In their third year, Eve also joined the steering committee for Dal’s campus community fridge – a position where they helped fundraise, shop for, and maintain the free food resource on Dal’s Studley Campus.
“The direct action in that position has been very fulfilling as I’ve gotten to see the immediate impact on students,” Eve says.
The direct action in that position has been very fulfilling as I’ve gotten to see the immediate impact on students.
Eve’s on-campus involvement earned them a spot in the 2025 Dal Leadership Academy: High Performance Leadership Program, where their capstone project involved installing a campus community refrigerator on one of Dal’s other campuses — Sexton downtown. Creating a pantry there allowed students to access emergency groceries rather than having to rely on Studley’s resource.
Dr. Jennifer Andrews, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, was Eve’s supervisor in the program and describes their work as “an important pragmatic step in addressing food insecurity among the student body at Dalhousie and epitomizes Eve’s commitment to making a difference by taking action.”
Eve’s experience in the leadership academy was very valuable, but they found the content of the leadership academy program to be somewhat outside of their typical way of thinking. Eve decided to take this realization as inspiration to write their honours thesis about leadership development programs at Canadian universities.
In addition to the Dalhousie-McCall MacBain Leadership Academy Scholarship and several academic scholarships, Eve was the first-place recipient of the 2026 Halifax Overseas Club Essay Prize category in the annual FASS Essay Competition. Eve says the financial supports they received had them feeling appreciated for the effort they’d put into their academic and extracurricular work.
“It’s always nice to be recognized by faculty or the university for being a relatively engaged student,” Eve says.
Challenges accepted
As Eve graduates from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences this spring with a BA with Honours in Social Anthropology, they aspire to pursue a master’s degree – but first they’ll take a year off to work in Halifax.
They note that critical thinking and understanding the systemic nature of society are the two biggest takeaways from their time at Dal, which they believe will be their biggest assets when moving into their future career.
Dal has encouraged me to be more outgoing and challenge myself to try hard things.
“On top of that, my time at Dal has encouraged me to be more outgoing and challenge myself to try hard things,” Eve says.
Their advice for new and returning students?
“Get outside every day, nature and fresh air is a great way to think through things and clear your head.”