For myself and readers, tell me a bit about yourself.
Lately I’ve been busy planning things for Get Real. We’ve had two events this month: A Celebration of Nations and Poetry for Parody on March 8th for International Women’s Day to bring light to issues women face. I was an organizer and hostess, it was a great experience. I always have things to keep me busy. We have the Benefit Dinner coming up and I’m happy to say I’m almost out of tickets! I may have to print more. I didn’t think I’d be able to get rid of one-hundred-and-ten, but I’m really happy so many people are interested. The upcoming dinner has been keeping me on my toes. Everything about the dinner has been planned by me and two others in Get Real. We have acquired sponsorship and raffle prizes and almost everyone that entered the raffle bought a ticket to the Benefit Dinner. We planned decorating times, communicated with the Indigenous community, and I’ve been sending emails for the past three weeks and going to meetings. The best description of my life this month is that it’s been all about events. I’m still in school but my mind is very much focused on the event. It’ll be worth it when I help raise $3000 dollars. I’ve been working eight to ten hours every day and I don’t take weekends. Everything has been about the dinner.
Her Campus recently wrote an article on your United Relations Benefit Dinner for LGBTQ and Aboriginal Youth. What caused you to become interested in LGBTQ and Aboriginal issues?
The benefit dinner is split into two causes and I think they’re both very important. Get Real stands for breaking down prejudice and ending stigma to make a better world. We really need to work together to make it possible. We are a not-for-profit national organization chapter at the university. We are a pro LGBTQ group and we focus on educational workshops on inclusive language, anti-bullying, suicide, homophobia, and other issues. We fine find intersectionality is extremely important. With various teachings there are so many different issues we want to support, so we are not limited to one minority group. Our minds belong with the LBGTQ community but we’ve expanded and I’m proud that the Benefit Dinner will be for 50% LGBTQ mental health and 50% will be for the Aboriginal Education Centre for student scholarships. We were only recently educated on certain issues. We couldn’t believe more people weren’t talking about it and doing something about it. We approached the centre and asked, “Do you want to do this event with us?” We were interested and now we’re here.
What are some other ways that you’ve helped others in the past?
I’m the President of Get Real and founder of the chapter last March 2015. We’re just coming up to our first birthday! I did that before I became Miss Canada United Nations. Get Real is very close to my heart. I did grow up experiencing homophobia first-hand and when I heard about Get Real in university I knew it was my calling to create it. I am an LGBTQ member and I came out in high school. It was not easy in the slightest. It was awful. People believe we’re in a post-homophobic society, but when you witness it first-hand it’s difficult. It’s all around you, family, friends, peers, teachers. I think we have to work together to defeat homophobia. Coming out isn’t easy, so we’re trying to help people with coming out and homophobia. We have events with high school students and our events are a separate branch from Get Real.
How do you balance your university career, charity work, a job, and a social life?
I worked last semester as a TA and I’m thinking about applying for a position in the UWSA. That’s a good question, though. I ask myself this all the time. I think that self-care is important. However, in practice I often neglect my own self-care for what I’m involved with, but I tell myself in the end it’ll all be worth it. I find my extra-curricular involvement to be very involving. People think it’s useless because I don’t make money but I think some of the best things in life are free and the sense of fulfillment I get is the best payment I’ll ever receive. Also, if they want to get technical, it looks great on a resume. I don’t balance without difficulty. I’m an honours student, full time on the honour role, and part of the Golden Key Honours Society. When people hear what I’m involved with they assume I’m a poor student, but I work from morning until night to finish everything I do. I’m not saying I’m better, I’m just very skilled at balancing my time. Our society thinks that being stressed out is good. I don’t think it’s something to be proud of when you’re too busy and stressed out but I also realize that in a lot of ways I am one of those people.
Do you plan on continuing your volunteer work even after you have to pass on your title of Miss Canada United Nations?
Absolutely. I consistently donate a lot of my time to charity work and I don’t plan for that to change, even if I do get a job. Through Miss Canada United Nations I have been doing specific roles. I’m able to give speeches and I’m able to hold a platform. Even though in my life I do charity work as Miss Canada United Nations, I do special tasks and even if I’m not in a pageant anymore I do want to continue with both types of charity work. Event organizing and being president of a group is way more time consuming than volunteering at an event, but I lost touch with how good it can be to just be a volunteer. At the Welcome Home Dinner for Syrian Refugees I had some experiences with the little girls that completely brought me down to earth. They didn’t speak English and I don’t speak Arabic, so we didn’t understand each other but I was able to interact with them. I put my crown on a table and I little girl came up to me and looked at me with wide eyes and thought I was a princess. I put the crown on her head and she was amazed! I spent two hours taking pictures with all the children. By the end all the little girls gave me hugs. Smiles don’t need a language. I know that sounds corny, but it completely broke my heart in a good way. I knew they’d been through so much. I couldn’t fathom coming from a war-torn country. It was rewarding to know I made them happy for a minute.
With your title and community involvement you are very accomplished. What are some “little things” people might not know about you?
I sing classical opera. I was going to go into music until I decided not to and now I’m studying psych and soc. I plan to write my thesis next year. With my career goals I hope to get my Masters and PhD in psych and become a prof in social psych with research in stereotyping, discrimination, and prejudice. That’s a lot of school, I’ll be a doctor. I collect rubber ducks. I have some from all over the world; Persian ducks, Irish ducks, astronaut ducks. The only thing I don’t have is a Hello Kitty duck. I have far too many shoes. I probably have hundreds, but in my defense, my feet haven’t grown since grade five. I have a pair of shoes I haven’t worn since picture day in grade five and I wore them the other day. I’ve been a size six since I was eleven.
Name three of your life goals:
I have thought about this quite a lot. I want to make a difference. I want to know that I’ve not only made myself happy in some way but I also impacted others in their lives. I hope to become what I want, to have two careers because I want to become a professor and get into politics later in life or earlier in life if I change my mind. My goals aren’t that firm in that way. I hope to have a family that I love.
What is some advice you have for anyone who wants to get involved in their community?
Clubs are a good place to start. They’re always looking for new people and from my experience they’re very accepting. There are more than two-hundred-and-fifty clubs just on campus and you can find out about them easily enough through Clubs Week and the UWSA site or even friends. You can also get involved through the community not-for-profits in Windsor. They’re always looking for volunteers. I also recommend becoming involved with leadership positions because they give you a sense of responsibility and outlet for creative work.
What’s something you’re proud of?
I won this award for students in any faculty, any year. It was for students in the top five percent GPA award. I’m a very goal-oriented person. I get very focused on a project and I work with intense determination and when it’s finished I move on. With my grades I haven’t moved on yet, I’m in that sense of determination, I’m in full throttle. There are times that are more intense than others and that semester I needed to prove to myself that I was smart and being a blonde, short, somewhat bubbly person and a girl I feel like a lot of people didn’t take me seriously, didn’t assume I’m intelligent or well-spoken. I felt in coming to university it’s my time to shine! Nothing was holding my back to prove to others and to myself that if I focused I could do it and as it turns out I smashed my expectations. I was hoping to get an 85 and I was able to do much better than that. It felt really good to break my own expectation. Even my dad had to admit I had good grades, and he’s very critical (in a good way).
I feel like I’ve achieved everything I have through time management. I also have supportive friends and a supportive boyfriend. I can’t go without saying I probably wouldn’t be as mentally healthy as I am without them. They remind me to calm down and support me when I’m not calm. Having them makes my life easier to balance and to live.
A list of Victoria’s titles:
President and Founder of Get Real UWindsor
President of SASS (Society of Arts and Social Sciences), “Where my biggest goal as president was where we as a team created and distributed eleven scholarships to students and supported numerous clubs on campus financially.”
Part of the Sorority Delta Zeta, “I was the philanthropy chair.”
Part of Jack.org, “Where I participated in their annual summit.”
Fundraising Chair for the Golden Key Society
Just finished being Treasurer of the Psychology Students Association
Helped found the Improv Club 2013
“I’m always involved with little things. Sometimes I’m not the leader but I participate in things like Relay for Life, Shinerama, Coldest Night of the Year, Run for Rocky, and various other campus and non-campus projects and events. I just show up to things. I love to support others’ events because I know how hard it is when I’m not supported. Like pancake breakfasts, walks, dinners, I do my best to actually go and support. My boyfriend usually goes with me.”
What’s coming up for you in the near future?
Later today I’m speaking about mental health. I had an open mic night with a mental health awareness group on campus. I’ve never done anything with them because I was with Jack.org. Mental Health group on campus and nationally. I’ve never spoken about my experience with mental health before so this will be a first for that. I love public speaking but I do get nervous, especially talking about topics I’m not yet comfortable with.
What motivates you?
Shia Labeouf yelling, “Just do it!” is truly my motivation with school and work and other work. Just doing it is half the battle. It started out as a joke with my friends but it’s become serious. Thanks Shia!
What is your platform for Miss Canada United Nations?
I’m all about social justice, inclusiveness, and equality. My platform is student equity. What this means to me is a lot more than financial. It means not only getting children to school but keeping them there and keeping them happy and mentally healthy and learning in a positive environment. For me, student equity is about mental health awareness and financial help and student social justice and a range of other issues. It means a lot of it is involving any student, on average anyone who’s essentially 5-25. The reason I pick the words “student equity” is because “equality” means fairness, “equity” is justice and I believe in justice. If someone needs extra help they deserve it. With my platform, if I become Miss United Nations I hope to get more women and girls into school and hope to promote student equity in my own country of Canada, which is why I’m so passionate about scholarships and student advocacy.
The upcoming Benefit Dinner is my twelfth creation of a scholarship, and the Golden Key scholarship for high school students is the thirteenth scholarship I’ve helped create.