Hi! My names Talia (I’ll respond to almost any pronunciation that’s not TilYa), I’m a first year student in the IDEA program here at Cap. I have a driving passion for LGBTQ rights and equality, as well as an overwhelming love of anything out of place and strange. I loved English in high school, but I was primarily involved in Fine Arts and Theater, and eventually I’d love to pursue my own business designing packaging for beer and wine bottles. I decided to join the IDEA program because I attended an open house last year in November, and after attending several ones at other schools that focused in fine arts, decided that this is where I wanted to be. I love fine art, but I wanted to find a fulfilling career that was going to remain sustainable in the growing world of media and advertising. I’ve always had a passion for commercial business and wanted to combine my two main loves into a career. I hail from Kelowna (my parents pictured above still live there, I know, we look exactly alike and my dad looks just a little too much like Tom Cruise). But oh man! Vancouver is such a refreshing environment compared to my hometown! I love everything about it here; the deep foliage, the moist air, the smell of the ocean as soon as I step outside, even the rain. I’m looking forward to my next years here as I complete my program. Signs  point to me staying here for the foreseeable future. I’d love to find a nice basement suite that allows a small cat or a dog and just settle in to the permanent rain for the next 10 years or so. North Van has always felt like home. My brother, pictured above, has lived here for the last 5 years and just finished his 4 year degree through MOPA in April. I wanted to show a picture of my family because they’re the ones who enabled me to move out to North Van, who encouraged me to pursue a career in design even though they both hail from science and government backgrounds. While decided what school to go to, I always heard “Design? Really? I know photoshop, I don’t need 4 years of a degree to do that.” Or, my favorite, “Fine arts just produces teachers. It’s a bunch of wishy-washy art bullshit that doesn’t really get you anywhere.” Its my family who was always supportive and encouraging, and it’s solely because of them that I am able to do what I love here at Cap.