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VIU grad spotlight

Submitted by Jenn McGarrigle on July 24, 2021 - 10:18am

Reprinted with permission from The Discourse

Vancouver Island University (VIU) attracts international students from around the world and from various different climates. For Lurana McClure Rodriguez, who grew up in Puerto Rico, Vancouver Island’s environment felt like the closest home away from home. Wanting to study something design and arts-related, interior design gave her a wide range of opportunities to learn and specialize in. Now, at the end of her degree, Rodriguez finds that her final grades aren’t the greatest achievement.

Healing the heart and mind

Submitted by Jenn McGarrigle on July 15, 2021 - 5:05pm

The power of our hearts and minds can uplift us and help us create the life we want, Noelle Hanuse (Wuikinuxwv), a Wellness Advisor with VIU’s Office of Indigenous Education and Engagement. She has created a series of videos around this theme to help Indigenous students navigate their lives and their post-secondary goals in a healthy way.

“I hope students will understand how our thoughts are linked to our feelings and subsequent behaviours and actions, and how changing their thoughts and actions will help them feel better and lift their spirits,” she says. 

5 things you may not know about VIU’s Adult Basic Education program

Submitted by Eric Zimmer on July 15, 2021 - 10:55am

“If you have an academic goal you want to achieve, we’ll get you there.”

That’s the simple and straightforward message from Jean Maltesen, Dean of Academic and Career Preparation, for those who enroll in VIU’s Adult Basic Education (ABE) Program.

And while the message may be simple enough, there are numerous ways it can be tailored to help individual students pursue their educational journey.

But who is ABE for? What are some common misconceptions? And what are the benefits of considering ABE in the first place?

VIU Student Pulse News: July 14, 2021

Submitted by Jenn McGarrigle on July 14, 2021 - 5:00pm

We are gearing up to welcome you back to campus this fall and have lots of activities planned to help orient you to university life, from RockVIU new student orientation, to summer warm-up tours, to resources you can check out in advance to help prepare you for the fall semester. Read on to find out more!

An online semester at VIU in Canada during a global pandemic

Submitted by Jenn McGarrigle on July 8, 2021 - 9:24am

Now that I am back in Germany, I already miss Canada, VIU, my friends there and, yes, even the online classes. Prior to my departure, doubts crept into my mind about if I should go abroad during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Would the experience be worth it, would it pay off both personally and academically, is it ethically acceptable? Looking back now, I would have loved to tell myself how great my spring semester at VIU would prove to be.

Beating the odds

Submitted by Eric Zimmer on July 6, 2021 - 2:05pm

Lindsay Folland wasn't supposed to make it this far.

When I was a child I was given a formal diagnosis that I would never be beyond an elementary school level,” she says. “I was told I am too socially impaired to have any meaningful relationships and I would need 24-7 support to bathe, dress, and eat.”

However, the people who told her these things, she says, were “thankfully and obviously not psychic."

Catching up with this year’s recipient of the Lieutenant Governor’s Medal

Submitted by Eric Zimmer on July 5, 2021 - 10:55am
A life-long fascination with the law and “how it works to shape the lives of our community” has resulted in a career with the Canadian Armed Forces for VIU  graduate Liam Kenney.
Kenney is a military police officer, a role he says entails policing “military members, military property and the families who live nearby as well as ensuring security both domestically and internationally.”