20/S1 HMRT 2023 A: Nicole Leary | St. Thomas University

Hi all, my name is Nicole and I am in my fourth year at STU as a Human Rights and Political Science major. I am originally from Falmouth, NS, but I will be living in Fredericton as we go through this semester of online classes. In my spare time I love to do musical things, read, write, play with my kitty, and spend time with my friends. I also love photography and I'm slowly learning to play the ukulele. The next challenge will be singing and playing at the same time.

I am super excited about this course because I love to read, especially novels. I think that books can teach us so much about the world in which we live and about people in general, so a class based on reading novels is an ideal class for me.

Re: Nicole Leary

par Amanda DiPaolo O'Brien, jeudi, 10 septembre 2020, 15:52

Hi Nicole,

I also love reading. Several years ago, I realized students really perked up to listen to what I was saying when I told stories (usually stories that were not relevant to course content, but I digress). I had this thought that maybe students would be interested in studying real world issues through stories and ever since then I have been slowing creating courses that are popular culture based. Based on these introductions and how many of you love to read, I am starting to think I made the right choice!

Re: Nicole Leary

par Kryssonia Wedderburn, jeudi, 10 septembre 2020, 16:02

Hi Nicole,
I was reading through your post and it made me want to ask you two completely opposite things:
- Why Human Rights and Political Science and why the ukulele of all instruments?

Re: Nicole Leary

par Nicole Leary, jeudi, 10 septembre 2020, 16:44

I love the two opposite questions. Firstly, I love human rights but I also fell in love with poli sci when I went to Ottawa and got to talk with and challenge politicians. I think that you need to know the systems and some of their secrets to be an effective advocate.
Secondly, I choose the ukulele because it's nice and small, which is good because I have some upper body injuries that make it difficult to manage large instruments. I also used to play the violin but dropped it for a few reasons, mostly because I like to sing and can't do that when playing the violin but I can with a ukulele.

Re: Nicole Leary

par Kryssonia Wedderburn, vendredi, 11 septembre 2020, 20:33

I agree with you. Having that knowledge certainly makes for more effective advocacy. What genre of music do you enjoy playing and singing the most?