STUDENT SPOTLIGHTS

Honours student, residence leader, and top cake maker –Amongst juggling her studies as a fourth year honours accounting student, her duties as a StFX residence student leader, and running ‘Sammy’s Sweets,’ Gerald Schwartz School of Business student Sammy Johnson took on a new challenge this past year—competing to be Canada’s best cake baker. on CTV’s new holiday series, Cross Country Cake Off. Ms. Johnson was one of four from that event to receive their bronze cake stand and advance to the Cross Canada Cake Off Kitchen in Toronto. Although she didn’t advance to the final, Ms. Johnson, the youngest competitor, just 20 years old at the time, says the experience was amazing. She’s always enjoyed watching cooking shows, but never imagined she would be on one.

Black Student Peer Mentor, residence leader, and accounting and actuarial science student: Meet StFX student Richaun Moss a fourth-year accounting and actuarial science student in the Gerald Schwartz School of Business from Nassau, Bahamas. He is looking forward to pursuing a career in actuary science after his graduation from StFX. Along the way in his degree path, Mr. Moss was a first year connector for the Black Student Society. He also served two years with the Discipline and Appeals Committee, and he worked two years with X Patrol. Additionally, he has served on the Quality of Life committee, and was a class notetaker.

Lance Bright, a fourth year Schwartz School of Business student from Whycocomagh, NS, majoring in management and leadership and minoring in sociology, has had a very successful four years as a StFX student. Mr. Bright is the recent recipient of the $10,000 CIBC Achievers Award, he has been a research assistant on projects with faculty in the StFX Rankin School of Nursing and with StFX Faculty of Education, and this year he served as an Indigenous Student Mentor to help Indigenous students on campus find the supports that they need to help them succeed.

Based on her prior summer employment which often required working with the refugee population, Kimberly May expressed her interest in researching the financial literacy needs of refugees resettling in Northeastern Nova Scotia. With Norine Verberg and Mary Oxner as faculty supervisors, Kimberly embarked on a research program which required interviewing both resettling refugees and organizations that support them. Based on her research, financial literacy information needs of resettling refugees in this area were uncovered. Additionally, Kimberly recognized that videos could be an effective mechanism for relaying financial literacy information and could remove the hesitancy refugees may face talking about financial matters with others. Kimberly approached her research with academic curiosity but more importantly with empathy and a willingness to improve the experience of resettling refugees in our community. Kimberly’s work demonstrates her commitment to supporting the integration of a vulnerable populations (i.e., newcomers) and improving their new communities.