Dawson College, Montreal, hosted a Caribbean-style carnival on Thursday, 12 March ’26. The event highlighted the cultures of different Caribbean countries, like Guyana, Grenada, Jamaica, and Trinidad.
Ariel Marshall was a psychology student from Dawson College. She’s currently employed at the Lachine Hospital in the role of an administrative agent. Besides this, she’s also a part-time modelling artiste.
Marshall said that there are so many familiar faces. She believed that it was amazing for Dawson to continue showcasing so many different cultures to show the diversity that the student body obviously has.
Hailing from the Caribbean’s Trinidad & Tobago, Marshall added that the carnival event means receiving more visibility.
Marshall added that it means being seen in a place where one doesn’t always feel seen.
She went on to share that growing up in Montreal, there weren’t that many Caribbean events that I knew of, so I felt somewhat enclosed. However, finding community and having it everywhere, even at school, made me feel more at home. These experiences also motivated me to attend school.
Focusing on the future, she hopes that the organization will expand and continue spreading knowledge of Caribbean cultures, and she also wishes that everyone could find a community within themselves.
In the meantime, Maya Seon is in her third year in the marketing and management technology program at Dawson School.
Seon is also known as the queen of the popular Caribbean festival Çarimas and tends to attend various social events such as banquets, fashion shows and galas.
Seon added that she was so happy to receive a share of her culture with her community.
Seon originates from Trinidad and St Vincent. She opined that this type of cultural event tends to help remind people where they’re from.
At times, we can feel a little bit alienated from culture as we are not really associated with it every day. So, having such events, a participant gets to remember their roots and then get to connect with their friends, Seon shared.
