Introducing . . . our Student panel

Ever wonder how we find out what students are thinking? We ask them. This year, these 20 students will post weekly video commentary at OnCampus.Macleans.ca.

ST. PATRICK SECONDARY (Vancouver) Erika Kinach, 17, has her sights set high—all the way to Mars. After touring a replica of the International Space Station at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Kinach decided she wants to be an astronaut. If she doesn’t make the cut, being a neuroscientist will do.	UBC (Vancouver) Jeremy McElroy, 22, noticed that there weren’t enough fun events for the under-18 crowd when he arrived at UBC, so he learned how to DJ and started promoting campus parties. “We’d always sell out of tickets,” says the vice-president of the student union. His next goal: getting rapid transit built out to UBC.	THOMPSON RIVERS (Kamloops, B.C.) Brian Payne, 21, says he’s not a homework person. Brian plays intramural basketball, plenty of video games, and is enjoying residence life (sometimes too much). “I’m in a quad so we end up being the hosts of the parties—even on nights when we don’t want to be.”
CALGARY (Calgary) Jennifer Abbott, 21, a B.C. native, wants to be a politician. The political science student recently spent two months working on a city council candidate’s campaign. “I learned that city politics is a lot like student politics,” says Abbott. “And the importance of door-knocking.” To get away, Abbott snowboards in the Rockies.	ALBERTA (Edmonton) Nick Dehod, 24, is focusing on mental health issues during his term as president of U of A’s student union. (He convinced the school to hire five new counsellors.) He’s also a bass guitar player. “That’s my venue to get my creative energy out and just relax,” says the sociology and economics student.	SASKATCHEWAN (Saskatoon) Ishmael Napoleon Daro, 21, legally registered his own middle name at the age of 18. Why Napoleon? “Through pure charisma, this ‘nobody’ changed the world,” says the fourth-year Afghani immigrant. Daro transferred to political science from English, “because English has a lot of reading.”
MANITOBA (Winnipeg) Shelley Halchuk, 30, was running a nail business when she took a friend for some dental surgery and the dentist showed her how his job was like working with nails. Now, she’s in year one of dentistry and heads the Aboriginal student association. She’s looking forward to her first sweat lodge.	WINNIPEG (Winnipeg) Chris Hunter, 21, almost took a music degree instead of communications and rhetoric. Luckily, he met musicians outside of class and was able to get his creative fix on the side, as a member of the band Amuse. Hunter is now focused on writing for local publication the Uniter, and his degree.	WESTERN (London, Ont.) Pascale Gordon, 21, spent 40 straight days this summer doing yoga, journalling, dieting and meditating. “It taught me that exams and stress are never as big a deal as we think they are.” Gordon, a third-year media student, reads style blogs and freelances in graphic design.

GUELPH (Guelph, Ont.) Jennifer Marinucci, 37, has gone back to school now and she’s not embarrassed to put her hand up in class. “I’m paying thousands of dollars, so if I ask questions that are off topic, too bad,” she says. She doesn’t have time for the English club, so she reads Chaucer to her kids before bed.	RYERSON (Toronto) Ahmed Alabbas, 23, grew up with two entrepreneur parents. “That’s why I’m business-oriented,” says the third-year graphic communications management major. On top of class and running his program’s student association, he already has a part-time job at a printing company on Bay Street.	YORK (Toronto) Omeed Asadi, 20, volunteers frequently, most recently with the social media team for George Smitherman’s Toronto mayoral bid. “My phone isn’t a qwerty keyboard so I’m getting a new one,” says the third-year communications student. “I used to be annoyed by people who say things like that.”
HUMBERSIDE COLLEGIATE (Toronto) Hannah ter Weeme, 17, has got her future school narrowed down to McGill, UBC, Queen’s or Western. “Obviously, academic reputation is important to me, but it’s really going to come down to the feeling of campus,” says the future history or classics student.	MCGILL (Montreal) Jessica Wong, 18, balances school with her stage-managing and varsity rugby, which takes place about an hour from campus. “It’s physically and mentally exhausting,” says the B.A. student who hopes to major in chemistry. “Rugby alone is 30 hours a week, so you’re always beat up, but it’s worth it for the people.”	ST. THOMAS (Fredericton) Christopher Cameron, 21, has played almost every intramural sport offered, from water polo to broomball. He’s also the sports editor of the Brunswickan. “I’m enjoying watching the hockey team get back in action,” says the third-year communications student.
KING’S (Halifax) Bethany Horne, 24, wasn’t afraid to move to find the right school. She grew up in Ecuador before starting at Mount Allison in Sackville, N.B. “I found the town pretty limiting,” says Horne. So, she first moved to Dalhousie, then moved again, to King’s journalism and creative writing program.	MOUNT SAINT VINCENT (Halifax) Melanie Brister, 19, is crafty. “Last year, you would often find me in the residence lounge knitting feverishly,” says the second-year student. This year, her job as a residence assistant and her public relations degree are preventing her from spending time crafting.	NSCAD (Halifax) Natasha Krzyzewski, 21, is a fine arts student. “We come together in physical spaces, because our houses are so close together, but they also act as a way of distancing ourselves,” says the fourth-year about why bungalows are a current theme in her drawings. She is also student union president.
UPEI (Charlottetown) Meagan Jennings, 21, was surprised at how small UPEI was when she arrived from Wisconsin. “I picked it after I saw a poster on the wall of my career office,” she says. She now loves the small community. “I’ve done well here; I’ve quickly risen through the ranks,” she says of her position as the head of frosh week.	MEMORIAL (St. John’s) Cameron Campbell, 23, is proud to have successfully lobbied his university to keep tuition rates down. When he’s not pleading with university administrators, he’s in the woods. “I like the idea of being kilometres away from the nearest human,” says the fifth-year political science major.