Student Wellness Programs

Hello!

My name is Gaoyuan Song, or you can call me Jenny, and I use she/her pronouns. I’m a third-year student in the Fine Arts program, minoring in animation. My mediums are drawing, painting, and animation, with an interest in both analog and digital mediums.

With Mandarin Chinese as my first language, I'm happy to welcome Chinese students and help them navigate school life! Also, I’m going to restart the BIPOC collective this year with my friend Noah, so if you ever feel the need for a community to chat around, come join us :)

I have a 7-year-old black cat named Betsy, and I got into crocheting last winter to make her a rainbow mat. Now I’m working on a mint witch hat for my friend, and I love watching shows and anime while crocheting— just finished True Detective S1 and planning to start A Witch's Life in Mongol.

It’ll be my first time working as a peer mentor, so please feel free to give any advice and feedback to help me improve. Looking forward to meeting you all!

Where to find me?

• 1:1 weekly peer-support sessions
• Weekly wellness programming– Mindful Gatherings & Tea Hours
• O&B special events
• Organizing the BIPOC collective through SUNSCAD

Hey there,

I’m Max! I’m a trans masc, fourth year interdisciplinary arts major, who enjoys just makin’ things. I love working on sculptures, installations, photography, painting, and anything I feel like putting together. I’m a big fan of queer art, art as a therapeutic or cathartic practice, surrealism, and large-scale works.

In my spare time I love to walk in the woods and spend time in my garden, play my guitar, and snuggle my little black cat, Ebony!

As a peer mentor, I am always honoured to be one of the chosen people to hold space for my peers - helping carry their feelings, supporting through tough times, being a shoulder to cry on when things get hard.

I am a huge advocate for self-compassion, and I think that being able to reach out for help when you need it most is a selflessly self-compassionate thing to do. Sometimes there are too many worries to try and process in your own head, and they can feel overwhelming when you try and look at them alone. I’m here to support all my peers, with all kinds of backgrounds, stories, and feelings. Come drop into the peer support office, and let’s unpack everything together!

Where to find me? –

• 1:1 weekly peer-support sessions
• Weekly wellness programming– Mindful Gatherings & Tea Hours
• O&B special events
• Stringing or strumming the guitar in the Wellness Room (G227, Fountain Campus)

Hi!

My name is Sam (he/him) and I’m in my fifth year at NSCAD studying Interdisciplinary Design for my BDes. Through my degree I primarily focus on graphic/information/layout design and illustration– but outside of academics I LOVE collage, paint markers, and character illustration, as well as writing stories. This year, I am the Wellness Champion!

Since 14, I have been out as a queer, transmasculine nonbinary fella and recently got top surgery this summer! I live with ADHD and mental health conditions that have profoundly shaped who I am today, which I learned to manage through medication, therapy, and an amazing support network. I have plenty of experience navigating resources available in HRM since I moved here from rural Antigonish so, if you need something, I can find it! Please feel free to chat if you see me!

I’m a huge fan of music (Gorillaz), I love to yap about politics and whatever nonfiction or silly show I’m currently into. Recently my passion has been complaining about AI, especially how it disproportionately affects marginalized communities and what we can do to avoid it. I love anything apocalyptic; whether it be nuclear or zombie– I love the trope of finding joy even in terrible circumstances and community coming together to survive and thrive.

This year (besides completing my degree), I hope to complete the storyboard of a graphic novel I’ve been dreaming of since starting at NSCAD. I'm looking forward to all good things to come this year and being part of the Wellness team!

Where to find me?

• Weekly wellness programming– Mindful Gatherings & Tea Hours
• O&B special events
• Working hard in the Design Studio to meet a deadline

My name is Lorelei Saunders Smith, and I’m one of your Sexual Health & Safety Student Educators this year! I’m a photography major and art history minor, though you’ll often see me in the fashion department and other areas of campus(es), too!

This year I will be putting together my solo show in the Anna Leonowen Gallery thanks to two awards- the Roloff Beny Photography Scholarship and Creative Innovators of Tomorrow Award– and hope to create some other pop-up exhibitions in the area, including one co-curated with Wanjiru around themes from our work.

I’m very involved in the alternative music scene, as well as local collectives such as the Anchor Zine Archive and the Ephemera dance collective here at NSCAD and you’ll sometimes catch me behind the bar or snapping photos at an on-campus event. I’ve been in this role since 2024 (it’s my third year as a Student Educator) and look forward to welcoming the newcomers in my final year at NSCAD!

Where to find me? –

• Facilitating Waves of Change workshops
• Stocking FREE safer-sex supplies & gender-affirming resources in the O&B office
• O&B special events (often behind a camera or the bar!)
• Collaborating with SUNSCAD on the Queer Collective and performance-art related events

Hi, I’m Wanjirũ Njoroge, one of your Sexual Health & Safety Student Educators, and I use she/her pronouns. I’m entering my third year in the BFA program, Major in Film and I was a nominee for the NSCAD Student Art Award in Film in Spring 2026.

I’m a Kenyan decolonial filmmaker, poet, and storyteller. My practice is rooted in reclaiming memory, resisting erasure, and reimagining African womanhood beyond colonial and patriarchal frameworks. Through film and poetry, I explore identity, belonging, history, and the power of storytelling to reclaim narratives.
As an international student (from Kenya) and a Third Culture Kid (TCK), I’ve lived in Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and now Canada, and have had the opportunity to travel to several other countries. Those experiences have shaped how I see the world and deepened my appreciation for different cultures and perspectives. I’m proud to be African and passionate about creating spaces where people feel seen, heard, and valued.

I love playing the piano, strength training, writing, and performing spoken word poetry, and of course, watching films. I’m endlessly fascinated by storytelling in all its forms and enjoy conversations about cinema, art, culture, and identity. I also come from a big family, with 32 first cousins!

You’ll probably see me around the Academy Campus ‘Cage’ or involved with Eddy Firmin’s RISE Symposium this year– contributing to conversations about Black art, reclaiming narratives, and decolonial practice. I am fluent in English and Swahili and happy and have hopes to become conversational in French this year, come chat with me!

Where to find me?

• Facilitating Waves of Change workshops
• Stocking FREE safer-sex supplies & gender-affirming resources in the O&B office
• O&B Special Events
• Contributing to film projects or working on the RISE Symposium with Eddy Firmin

Hey! I’m Court (they/she) and I’m the Student Engagement Specialist in the Office of Opportunity & Belonging– I work year-round to make sure your time at NSCAD provides opportunities for you to connect with each other and yourselves.

You’ll often see me around our three campuses at various student programs and events– I’m usually the one with the supplies and food, supporting the Student Wellness Team, and sometimes facilitating too!

I grew up along the south shores of Mi’kma’ki and my connection to the ocean and land there deeply shapes my identity and situates me relationally. My early relationship with this coastline shapes my sense of kinship, responsibility, and reciprocity ultimately informing the ways I work and engage with students.
I am a queer intersectional feminist who is passionate about using creativity as a vehicle for social change and believe in approaching challenging situations from a student-centered, trauma-informed approach– focused on building culturally safer spaces where students can bring their ‘whole’ selves.I am also a millennial who will not abandon my ‘Em Dash’ (even to prove I wrote this without AI!).

I work closely with the Student Wellness Team to ensure NSCAD Students have relevant and accessible programming to connect, share and build community.
I’m here if you have questions or want to learn more about our programming, events, and ways to engage with the larger NSCAD community! I’m also here if you need support in navigating NSCAD (or community) processes and supports or simply don’t know where to start.

Where to find me?

• Supporting the Student Wellness Team at weekly programs like Mindful Gatherings & Tea Hours and at O&B special events like Orientation, After-Anna Karaoke + more
• In the Office of Opportunity & Belonging located at Fountain Campus, D310

Hi & Sat Sri Akal!

I hope you are keeping well! I’m a lifelong learner, academic, and professional with a focus on the future of learning, the future of health, and the future of work. I’m driven by curiosity, optimism and the science of hope, with a healthy dose of living cyclical in good relationship with the earth.

At NSCAD, I manage the Office of Opportunity & Belonging, which provides student services related to wellness, counselling, mental health, and accessibility. I also support students who need to disclose experiences of bullying, abuse, sexual violence and/or harassment. You’ll also see me facilitating the Beginner Pilates sessions I offer occasionally out of D241 on Fountain Campus (keep an eye on your @nscad.ca email inboxes and the @nscadstudentexperience Instagram for current semester offerings) and at other O&B events supporting Court and our Student Wellness Team.

My previous work has included teaching and researching with a focus on social justice, decolonization, mental health, and healing trauma at UBC, York, and Dalhousie, Universities as well as in recruitment with BIPOC Executive Search. I’m also the CEO of I’m with Periods (@imwithperiods), a social enterprise aiming to spread worldview love of periods and menstrual cycles.

I was born and raised on the West Coast outside Vancouver, Canada, and currently live in Halifax on Mi’kmaw Treaty Territories. My parents and ancestors are from the Punjab region of India and Pakistan. I love going for forest walks with my dog, reading (I’m a huge bookworm!), and enjoying a cozy cup of coffee or chai with a friend or colleague.

Where to find me?

• Supporting the Student Wellness Team at O&B Special Events
• In the Office of Student Experience, located at Fountain Campus, D200
• Facilitating Beginner Pilates in D241