In Lebanon, Nadine Ezzeddine was already a nurse, a leader, and a mother. She held senior roles in healthcare administration and had a master’s in microbiology and immunology. But the roles available to her—both professionally and personally—felt limited. 

“I wasn't reaching my goals or what I would love to achieve professionally. I was thinking outside the box but behaving inside the box until I decided: I’m not taking this anymore,” says Nadine. “I wanted to be the role model for my daughters once they start looking outside the box.”

So she began to imagine a different kind of life, one where she could grow on her own terms. But Nadine had divorced in 2011, and as is customary in Islamic Shiite marriages, custody of the children by default goes to the father. So she came alone to Canada, and the separation was one of the hardest decisions she’s ever made.

“I knew that to give a better life for my daughters, I had to leave my country,” Nadine says. “It was hard during that time. I wasn't allowed to talk to them as much as I would want.”

Nadine’s path eventually brought her to Nova Scotia in 2015. Dalhousie University offered one of the few graduate nursing programs that didn’t require a Canadian licence to apply, and for Nadine, that opened a door. She arrived in Halifax to begin a new chapter, unsure of what the future would look like but determined to create something better for herself and her daughters.

The early days were isolating. Nadine was working toward her Canadian nursing licence while raising funds, navigating bureaucracy, and trying to stay in touch with her daughters back home in Lebanon. That’s when she connected with EduNova, an organization that supports the recruitment, retention, and success of international students in Nova Scotia.

Through EduNova’s Study and Stay program, which helps students build careers, communities, and lasting connections in the province, Nadine was connected with a mentor who provided her with practical and emotional support, and with connections to people who understood the unique challenges international students face. “My mentor was amazing. She addressed me holistically as a student, as a mother, as a woman in a new culture.”

After finishing her master’s and completing a year-long bridging program to gain her Canadian nursing licence, Nadine finally had the chance to bring her daughters to Halifax. “It was like magic. My daughters got their visas and within a month or so my whole life changed.”

With her family reunited and her licence in hand, she began to build a professional life here. Nadine started out working in long-term and acute care before joining Dalhousie’s School of Nursing as a full-time instructor, teaching different undergraduate nursing courses, and being the primary course professor of the Pathophysiology and Therapeutics courses.

At Dalhousie, Nadine began to notice that students weren’t retaining the content they had been taught. “They study, they do their finals, and then after that, they forget,” she says. For a subject like nursing where the courses build on each other, the inability to retain knowledge was affecting students’ outcomes. 

Her search for a better way led her to the Paul-Elder Critical Thinking Framework that encourages learners to question assumptions, analyze reasoning, and apply knowledge in context. Nadine became certified by the Foundation for Critical Thinking and participates regularly in study groups and conferences with educators from around the world.

The theory gave her a structure to do what she had already instinctively believed: that students learn best when they’re taught how to think, not just what to memorize. In her classes, she now teaches students how to link complex ideas together through concept mapping and active learning. “I have students coming to me and saying, ‘We noticed this in our patient, and it changed the diagnosis.’ That means they didn’t just pass. They understood.”

Nadine also takes pride in supporting students who are struggling, bringing the student into her office and digging into how they study, and going over their exams. Often, she will identify undiagnosed learning challenges, such as ADD, and guide the student through the process of getting help that can change their academic experience.

“I think our role is really creating an environment for students where they can thrive,” she says. “They need somebody to tell them, ‘Hey, there's a way out. There might be an explanation for your struggles.’ ”

Providing support for her students is a way of returning the support she received early on through EduNova, her mentor, and the Study and Stay program. “If I wasn’t part of that program, chances are I would have left the province the moment I graduated,” Nadine says. “Just hearing the reassurance that yes, this is part of the experience, it validates it.”

For Nadine, watching her daughters thrive in Canada has become a source of strength. One of Nadine’s daughters is now studying nursing at Dalhousie, and she’s even taken her mother’s class. “They say that coming to Canada and bringing them here is the best thing that I could have given them in spite of all the suffering they experienced when I was away from them,” says Nadine.

“I have learned to trust that they're more strong and resourceful than I gave them credit for. And I think that's part of motherhood.”