Student Spotlights
Meet some of our amazing UPEI students, faculty, and staff and hear about what makes the University of Prince Edward Island so special.
![Ethan Taweel outside the PEI Government Offices](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_spotlight_round/public/2023-07/spotlight_etaweel_rnd.jpg?h=f0d95172&itok=QFEpUR5r)
Ethan Taweel, a UPEI Bachelor of Environmental Studies graduate (Class of 2021), works as a Senior Environmental Technician and Project Coordinator with the PEI Department of Environment.
![Diedre Kelly](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_spotlight_round/public/2023-05/dkelly_sq_rnd.jpg?h=fba60d9e&itok=7_AbvAa7)
Deidre Kelly works as an interpreter on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, providing simultaneous interpretation from French into English at committee meetings, press conferences, caucus meetings and sittings of the Senate and the House of Commons.
![Trish Van Bolderen](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_spotlight_round/public/2023-04/tvanbolderen_round.jpg?h=b4c164b4&itok=Jnu19Sbn)
Trish Van Bolderen lives in Dublin, Ireland and works full-time as a freelance translator (from French and Spanish into English) and English-language reviser. She also works as a Translation Studies scholar, having obtained a PhD in that area.
![Abby Gibson](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_spotlight_round/public/2023-05/agibson_rnd.jpg?h=be71ff4a&itok=6EMNAKn4)
After graduating from UPEI's Modern Languages program, Abby is living and working in Spain as an educational assistant and cultural ambassador.
![jeremy norman in upei's health sciences building](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_spotlight_round/public/2022-09/jnorman_spotlight_sq.jpg?h=fbf7a813&itok=SNk2kqLZ)
Numerous career options, potential international study, and competing as a Panther athlete made UPEI an easy choice.
![upei nursing graduate mitchell bingley in the health sciences building](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_spotlight_round/public/2022-09/mbingley_spotlight_rnd.jpg?h=031b01a4&itok=KzDM_swz)
After graduating in 2022, Mitchell plans to write his RN exam, and hopes to work in mental health and addictions.
![upei engineering student bridget patterson in the faculty of sustainable design engineering building](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_spotlight_round/public/2022-09/bpatterson_spotlight_rnd.jpg?h=a7e6d17b&itok=1Nh6XEur)
"Overall, my drive to graduate and continue to elevate my education comes from my passion for helping people in the most impactful way possible."
![upei doctor of veterinary medicine student farnaz farnaghi in an operating room](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_spotlight_round/public/2022-09/ffarnaghi_spotlight_rnd.jpg?h=8297b541&itok=8_Ub0h8K)
"After completing my Bachelor of Science in Ontario, I was ready to complete my Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree and I thought that Prince Edward Island would be the perfect place."
![upei chemistry graduate maggie leclair working in a laboratory](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_spotlight_round/public/2022-09/mleclair_spotlight_rnd.jpg?h=f0d95172&itok=xHPE1KQ_)
After completing an honours project in natural product chemistry, Maggie hopes to become a physician in the future.
![Zoe Furlotte at the Canadian centre for climate change and adaptation](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_spotlight_round/public/2022-09/zfurlotte_spotlight_rnd.jpg?h=883d44f0&itok=pfmMCmVL)
Zoe discovered a passion for studying climate change at UPEI after moving to the Island from New Brunswick.