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Work hard, plan for the long haul

Author

Cheryl Petten, Windspeaker Staff Writer, Winnipeg

Volume

22

Issue

6

Year

2004

Page 25

Shawonipinesiik Kinew is only 18 years old, but her list of accomplishments would be impressive for someone twice that age.

Kinew is a member of the Ojibways of Onigaming First Nation in northern Ontario but was born in Winnipeg.

In May, Kinew graduated from the University of Winnipeg Collegiate, the only high school in Canada located on a university campus.

"It's a great school," Kinew said. "It runs on a university-length year and you have the opportunity to take university courses. And it's a very independent environment."

Kinew excelled academically in high school, earning a number of awards, but also found time to take part in many of the school's extracurricular activities. While in Grade 11 she was co-editor of Mindscape, the school's literary magazine, and contributed to the school's annual fashion show as a designer and a seamstress.

In addition to her interests in fashion and writing, Kinew is partial to film. She attended the Gulf Island Film and Television (GIFT) school in 2001 and 2002, where she made two films, acting as writer, director, editor and camera and sound crew on both projects. One of those films, The Girl Upstairs, won an award at the school's annual EyeLens Film and Video Festival. She also took courses offered by her high school, during which she created two more films.

Kinew said she's always enjoyed movies, but didn't think about getting involved in making films until she took part in a camp put on by the Women's Television Network.

"They had this girls' camp, and it was on, I think, video and digital editing and that sort of thing. And so I think that was my first real introduction to film-making or video-making, I guess. So after that, I sort of pursued more film courses and things along that path."

It's the storytelling aspect that Kinew likes most about film-making. "I've always liked writing, and so that appeals to me," she said. It's not something she sees as a potential career, however.

"It's just a very interesting way of expressing myself."

Kinew had another interesting experience in film-making last year when she volunteered as costume designer's aide during the production of Guy Maddin's film The Saddest Music in the World, starring Isabella Rossellini and Mark McKinney.

"My friend is really good friends with the costume designer, so I just started going down to the set and helping her iron things," she said of her infiltration of the production. "We made some fun things for the movie. Like we made some garters. I don't know if they actually made it into the movie, but I know Isabella Rossellini wore them. It was pretty exciting for us."

This year, Shawonipinesiik Kinew was one of four high school students from across the country chosen to participate in The Hague International Model United Nations Conference, held to educate young participants about the role and structure of the UN while helping them develop skills in research, writing, organization, debate and negotiation.

"It was a really great opportunity," Kinew said. "There were 4,000 students and it was in The Hague, so that was pretty amazing because the conference centre where it took place was right across from some real United Nations courts. So it felt real.

"At first it was really intimidating because, I mean, there were so many students there. And there were students speaking, you know, English was their second language or third language or fourth language. And pretty much everybody was working at the same level. I was surprised with that, and I was intimidated because a lot of these kids come from amazing schools. But it was also really reassuring because I realized how good my education was. I didn't feel like these kids were smarter than me. I felt fine. It was really interesting to see, just to see how the United Nations works and get a feeling for it," she said.

This fall, Kinew will attend McGill University where she'll work towards a bachelor of arts degre. She'll study French and maybe take some courses in history and literature.

Kinew will be getting some financial assistance to pursue her studies, thanks to the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation. She will receive a Local Excellence Award worth $4,000.

Kinew said she's often asked what advice she has for other students, and she says they should start thinking about post-secondary studies long before they get to Grade 12.

"For me, it was always something that I knew I would do. It wasn't my dream to go to university. It was something I knew I'd have to do to get somewhere. I mean, I think you need to start young and work hard," she said. "I don't think that I'm extraordinarily brilliant or anything. I just think that, you know, I work hard."