Student Profiles

Susan MacInnis 

Sydney, Nova Scotia 

“The pandemic has taught me the importance of appreciating what you have when you have it,” says Susan MacInnis. “I have become more driven and focused on learning, creating change, and looking at different points of view.”  Witnessing firsthand the financial struggles of friends and in her own family has also inspired her to major in finance or economics.  

In addition to her volunteer position as a VolunTEEN Lead at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital, Susan was a tech teacher for seniors at the Cape Breton Regional Library and a volunteer youth program coordinator at the YMCA. She also founded and ran her school’s debate club and led the Green Team to advocate for the environment.  

When Susan found out she had received a Sobey National Innovators Scholarship, she was “absolutely choked up and speechless… I had the most difficult time controlling myself from jumping up and down and screaming my happiness into the phone.” Susan participated in the Enactus Saint Mary’s Summer Challenge and has already secured a position working with the Square Roots food security program. She plans to join the Commerce Society, the Debate Society, and maybe even the Case Competition Society.