Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I was born in Edmonton and adopted as a baby, and brought to Lethbridge. My dad, who also worked in Fine Arts, brought me to the University the day I was adopted, so I truly grew up at the University. I’ve been here my whole life. David Spinks, after whom the theatre is named, was my brother’s godfather; he used to build forts with us in my basement while my parents were working!
How long have you been at ULethbridge and what do you do here?
I have worn countless hats at the University, but right now I’m officially the Community and Events Coordinator for the Faculty of Fine Arts. I started working here in 2010 as part of the Box Office team, and now I supervise the Box Office. I think they keep me around because my institutional knowledge goes WAY back …I’m also really fun.
What's the best part of your job?
The best part of my job is my hilarious team. We’ve got great morale in my area, and we laugh a lot. We also try out new candies/snacks every few weeks — it’s a weird but important thing! There’s not a lot of turnover on my team, so many of the students who work with me work here for their entire degrees, so I really get to know them, learn from them, and I love being a sounding board for their questions and curiosities. It’s also been very motivating to have a Dean’s Office that allows me to include my personal Indigenous/Michif vibe into the work I do. It makes me feel pretty proud of the work I do here.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
I’m actually a candidate for Ordained Ministry with the United Church of Canada, where I was recently hired to work with teens in the region. There aren’t a lot of queer ministers around — despite how many churches there are, so it’s been awesome wearing that hat when I’m not on campus. My wife and I have four kids, and I like that both of my jobs let me include my kids in some type of meaningful way.