Fourth Year, Psychology
“What would be your ideal world?”
“A world with 20 to 25 degrees all year round but we would still be able to see all the seasons. Everyone would be equal: no poverty, no war, no currency. Everything would be free and everyone would be happy.”
First Year, Social Sciences
“When are you usually happy?”
“Whenever I do very well on a test, when I’m with my friends and when I get presents.”
Fourth Year Sociology + Third Year Environmental Management
“What motivates you?”
“My soccer team.”
“My soccer team, they keep me sane.”
Second Year, Environmental Sciences and Biology for Health Sciences
“Why did you bring your dog to campus?”
“My dog is one of the most important things in my life and I had to have her close to me. She’s already twelve and I want to enjoy every single moment I have with her. It’s just a joy to have her around me, I still can’t believe I have my own amazing ‘polar bear’ ”.
“Did you have a mentor when you were going through the transition from student to an industry professional? Did you have any struggles?”
“Yes, mine was more like life struggles because four weeks after I actually convocated, I had my first child. Actually, you can say that I learned a lot from having a child very young. As a young artist, I did look at artists. At that time we didn’t have email, so I decided to write a letter to an artist that I really admired, Mary Pratt. I admired her because of the subject matter and what she was doing … and also how she thought about her work and how she thought about herself as an artist.
So one day, I decided I was going to write Mary Pratt a letter, just an old-fashioned letter. I sent it to her gallery in Toronto, they forwarded to her, and she wrote me back… . it was just knowing that people are out there that you can take a look at [and] they have something to tell you and it’s okay to approach them and say ‘I am very interested and I have few questions, do you mind answering them?’
To my mind, I thought that was wonderful because of what she told me and how she took it seriously to write me back and say, ‘Well, I remember these struggles, you just work through it, think about this … ’ In terms of going through graduate school, I definitely had mentors that helped me, and what was nice is I taught for them as a Teaching Assistant and then I took over their classes later on … I think you find mentors in different ways, in different places, at different times in your life, but I think it is important to know what questions you want to ask of them, what they have that you want to learn.”