CEO, VANESSA NINA & KAMINTEN Media & Public Relations Inc.
Schools attended: Brentwood College, Mill Bay, British Columbia (1997-2002), Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec (2002-2007), Centro Linguistico Italiano Dante Alighieri, Florence, Italy (2003)
Major/Minor: Major Journalism and Communications, Minor in Women’s Studies (from the Simon de Beauvoir Institute), Semester Abroad in Florence, Italy
If we walked into your dorm room, what would be hanging on the walls and decorating your window sills? I passed on the combo idea of a dorm room and mate (previously spent five years in boarding school). Instead, set up camp in Old Montreal on a romantic avenue near the canal. Interior space was a little bit hip, a little bit hippie, a smidgen of Zen, and a dollop of rock and roll. Otherwise picture Christopher
Isherwood’s 1949 novel “The Single Man,” well, there was a lot of nudity in that tale. That’s how I lived: naked and single-minded with meticulous organizational skills.
Roommates are not easy, what are rules to live by?
Pick up smoking and fill your pantry with Canadian Club.
What bar did you most frequent as a student? Has your drink of choice changed since then?
Think regency-glam in the form of two-dollar beers at McGill’s student pub, Gerts. An oxymoron? Hast, I met the man of my dreams there. Today, I drink champagne mostly. Actually, exclusively.
What did you love most about your time at school?
Buying school supplies, skipping class, and landing a job at the student paper as beat reporter for the Men’s Hockey team. They were called the Stingers. Their mascot was a giant bee.
What’s the biggest personal discovery you made?
One can be deceived by three types of laziness:
1. The laziness of indolence which is the wish to procrastinate;
2. The laziness of inferiority which is doubting your capabilities;
3. The laziness that is attached to negative actions or putting great effort into non-virtue
What’s your best advice for first year students?
Buy a mood ring. Find a wild mentor. Seek out a Buddhist temple. Love, Learn, Pray (not necessarily