Meghan Rennie knew she was an artist at a very young age. At 16-years old, she started a business in Cold Lake, Alberta, selling hand-made greeting cards and discovered that she also had a strong entrepreneurial spirit. She loved the freedom to experiment and succeed or fail on her own terms. A desire to blend the practical side of art creation with a strong creative practice drove Meghan toward ULethbridge to the combined degree program in management and new media.
What is your advice to new ULethbridge students?
"If I could, I’d go back in time and grab myself by the shoulders, shake her vigorously, and say, 'Get. A. Schedule!!!' It was so important for me to learn to take the infinite to-do list inside my head and lay it out on paper (or a whiteboard), blocking off time every day to work on three main assignments/ major tasks per day, to keep myself productive without getting overwhelmed. If you can, sign up for a peer mentor or the Accountability Crew through the Student Success Centre; it helped me a lot."
It isn't until I came to the university that I learned more about new media and what it was; I didn’t realize I was so passionate about management as a concept until I took a couple of the Management courses.
Have you had any hands-on learning experiences at ULethbridge?
"I recently completed the Trailblazing Entrepreneurship program through Agility — it helps entrepreneurs incubate their business or a non-profit over the course of two semesters. It has taught me so much and I’m really proud of the skill sets I have developed through it. I’m starting the Integrated Management Experience next fall; I look forward to all that it will teach me."
How have extra-curricular activities enhanced your education?
"I am the leader of the Climate Justice Working Group; a grassroots organization of students and community members who are helping each other make connections, take action, and break free from the feelings of dread caused by climate change. I’m the Vice President of the CKXU Radio Society; it’s a volunteer driven radio society that provides independent campus and community radio opportunities through programming, tools, training and events in the Southern Alberta region. I also write, play music, and make visual art all the time – sometimes, people even pay me for it! Extracurricular activities are so important to me; everything I do, as a student, as a volunteer, as a businesswoman and as an artist is fuelled from the same source. The fact that I can do an applied study to receive credit for my climate justice work or participate in a management program that gets me involved with a real-world non-profit, further helps me connect all these aspects of my life and all the passions that I have."