In 2017, Lellow Sedio's first attempt at university in Western Canada ended with a mental health crisis and hospitalization. Originally from Botswana, she spent a study hiatus in a college legal assistant program before a Facebook ad led her to U of T's Transitional Year Programme — she applied on deadline day.
TYP's small-cohort learning environment left its mark. As she puts it, "It was a program that I didn’t know I needed." She was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and went on to minor in Buddhism, psychology and mental health while researching how access to learning mediums affects academic performance, backed by an Undergraduate Student Research Award, and studying barriers to education in Botswana.
She launched the non-profit Epic Minds to offer free educational resources, and worked as a TYP program support assistant while mentoring through SEE U of T at Woodsworth College. She has been admitted to graduate studies in critical information policy at the Faculty of Information, with an eventual legal career in view.
Reported from From setback to a second start: How one U of T grad found her footing – and is helping others do the same, by Rahul Kalvapalle (U of T Alumni News, July 28, 2026).
More from the original reporting: alumni.utoronto.ca/news/u-t-grad-found-her-footing-and-helping-others-do-same