Promoting Community: Meet CBUSU Vice President of Promotions, Nova Nguyen

Nova Nguyen wants to cut through the noise and ensure every student at Cape Breton University knows exactly what opportunities are available to them. That’s Nova’s north star as she steps up as the Cape Breton University Students’ Union (CBUSU) Vice President of Promotions in her final year of the dual Bachelor of Arts in Community Studies and Bachelor of Business Administration program.

Nova didn’t start out heavily involved in campus life; before she started at CBU Nova would have described herself as someone who mostly kept to themself. When she first arrived on campus, Nova viewed her degree as strictly transactional.

“My first-year intentions were just to get through my program,” says Nova. “I planned to be in and out. I wasn’t planning on being involved.”

The Art of Getting Involved 

Her journey to student leadership was a gradual build of confidence that began with a role as a Student Navigator for the University’s Advising Centre. Seeing the campus from an administrative perspective changed Nova’s entire outlook, leading her to take on additional projects and responsibilities. During this time, she began integrating her personal passion for digital art into her work, creating animated videos for professors and social media graphics for the Advising Centre.

“I really downplayed my creative skills when I applied to CBU, I really thought I was just going to learn general business,” Nova says. “But my whole experience has been people seeing those creative skills and appreciating them.”

Finding Purpose in Promotions

By her third year, that growing confidence pushed her to explore opportunities with the Students’ Union. Though initially intimidated by the sheer scope of the executive roles, Nova realized her evolving skill set was exactly what the Vice President of Promotions role required.

“All that buildup from working at advising, to then moving into a bigger role, it felt like this was the right next step to get more involved,” Nova says. “Looking at my own growth, how uninvolved I used to be compared to where I am now, I decided to take the leap!”

Now in the promotions seat, Nova’s primary role is to streamline communication across the campus. She understands firsthand that students are often overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information coming at them from different directions.

“Something I heard a lot from students is, ‘I didn’t know about this,’” Nova says. “I personally didn’t really fully read the weekly student emails and therefore I never knew there was a feedback link at the bottom until my time working in the Advising Centre. There is so much information right in front of us, but at times there’s almost too much and it’s easy to miss things.”

To combat this information overload, Nova plans to focus on clear, intentional messaging. She’s using her experience in digital art to create visually striking and concise content designed to catch students’ attention quickly.

“We’re trying to figure out a way to make information accessible, but not overwhelming,” Nova says. “I’m always questioning what the actual, most important thing is that I want to communicate when I’m trying to get students to know about our events or services.”

Off the Ice and Into the Office 

That drive to organize and share information perfectly mirrors how Nova lives her life off-campus. When she isn’t managing Students’ Union Promotions or focusing on her studies, Nova is a self-taught artist who designs and sells her own stickers at local events. She’s also a passionate recreational skater who meticulously tracks public skate schedules at rinks across the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. Skating began as a personal hobby that brought her into a new world of community and connections into her life, inspiring her passion to give a similar experience to others. She believes her combination of personal passions heavily inform her approach to her role on the executive.

“I found all the schedules for the different rinks in the CBRM, threw it into a graphic on Canva, and made a whole schedule about it,” Nova

 says. “I was planning on doing a whole campaign to tell people about all of these rinks. People should know about these opportunities to get out and skate! Being passionate about skating is what brought me to be passionate about promotions.” 

Scaling that level of organization to serve the entire campus is a massive undertaking, one she tackles alongside a dedicated executive team.

As she looks ahead to the fall semester, Nova is confident in the dynamic of the colleagues she’s working with to support the student body.

“I think it’s amazing that we’re all very different people and all bring a different strength to our roles,” Nova says. “It’s just worked out that we have a good work dynamic and there’s so much support behind everything.”