Voices of Acadia
mind and to always consider the best interests of Nova Scotia in my work. “I formed lasting friendships during my university years and have many fond memories of my time at Acadia that I will always cherish.” –
before classes started for orientation with two friends from high school and my mom. We all went together and drove over at night, and I remember us coming off the highway at Exit 10 and kind of winding our way through to the campus. It was so pretty and green and welcoming. And then getting on campus, it sort of created a vision of what a university campus should look like. It was very welcoming – obviously with a lot of tradition – but of a size and scale that seemed very manageable. “When you go through university, there are two main objectives: you want to grow intellectually, and you want to gain knowledge. You want to develop skills that will help prepare you for your professional life, but I really think that half the goal of the university experience is the personal development. What I found in my experience at Acadia was that I was able to develop both. I had an excellent educational experience, but mixed with that I really grew up. I developed those personal skills: how to build communities, how to work in teams, how to really leverage being in a new place with new people and doing that by building my own confidence. When I left Acadia I felt very well prepared academically, and confident and mature as a person. “Putting my conflict of interest as president of the University of Calgary on the table, I absolutely think that Acadia is an excellent university that serves its students very well. And those who have graduated from Acadia, whether they remain in the Maritimes, move out west, or travel internationally, are well prepared and well recognized. I think it’s a great environment. I will always wish it well – to continue on with its great traditions and great history. And I look forward to seeing it flourish long into the future.” –
Dr. Elizabeth Cannon Dr. Elizabeth Cannon (’82) was appointed the eighth president and vice-chancellor of the University of Calgary in 2010. A professional engineer, she is an authority in geomatics engineering and her research has placed her on the leading edge of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) technology. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the U.S. Institute of Navigation, and Canadian Academy of Engineering. Dr. Cannon also received an Honorary Doctorate from Acadia in 2010. “When I was in high school thinking what I wanted to do in university, I had two decisions: what do you want to study; and where do you want to go? My older sister had gone to Acadia. It was small and I liked that. Some of my friends had gone there and were still going there. One of the key things that drew me to Acadia quite frankly, was the swim program. I was on the varsity swim team during my time there. I was really keen on being able to continue to swim, so I thought, ‘Wow, I can study what I want, I can be part of great swim teams, and I’m going to have some friends there and meet lots of new people. That sounds like a great fit.’ So I was super excited to go to Acadia. “My expectations were all met. I remember going there a month-and-a-half 35