User:Katie Kemp

Introduction
Hey, I’m Katie. I’m a small town girl with a big heart. I spend most of my time with my huge family! I have two older sisters – both of whom are married, one with a little baby - my first nephew – Elliott. I also have a younger brother who is only a year younger than me so we are quite close! And finally, I have two younger Foster brothers who I consider my real brothers as they have been with our family for 9 years. Altogether there are 11 of us! We also get together weekly with the whole extended family. I’m one of those people that always has too much on my plate but I LOVE it that way! I’m currently working three jobs, taking three online courses, and planning Camp Day for my local Tim Horton’s! I’m a little crazy, but crazy is more fun anyway.  :D

Personal Life
I was born in Hamilton, ON and have spent my whole life in the same house in St. George. My parents built the house when my mom was pregnant with me and I have lived here ever since! When they built the house they were the first ones on the street – it was more of a dirt road than a street. Our childhood photos show our yard with no fence and gorgeous open field. The neighbours would all get together for huge bonfires and a pig roast. As we grew more houses were built in and around us, and of course with that came a fence around our yard.

Interesting Experiences
I've had many interesting experiences in my life!
 * In grade 10 I did a 3-month exchange to France, which was a life-changing experience and allowed me to grow and mature in many ways!
 * I was in a choir with my older sisters called Brant County Youth Singers (now known as the Brantford Children's Chorus) that travelled all over Canada. When my sister was in the choir (before I joined), the choir sang at Disney World so our whole family got to go!
 * Last year I was a member of Residence Life Staff at UofG and that has been my biggest opportunity to grow and build amazing new friendships! Through this position I was able to experience so much that I otherwise would have missed out on!  For example; O-Week, Camp, numerous programs and events, and so much more!
 * Last year just before Christmas I travelled to New York City with a few members from my staff team. Travelling doesn’t often fit the budget as a student and it was SO great to get out and see the world!
 * One of my favourite family stories that I like to tell is of our road trips to Oklahoma. My brother-in-law is from Oklahoma and so my whole family drove up in our old motor home to meet his parents, and then again for their second wedding reception.  Well, when I said “old” motor home, that may have been a slight understatement.  This is a giant beast of a motor home that we have lovingly named RV (as in the name Erv).  My dad literally had to repair it at almost every border crossing!  Anything that could break in that motor home, broke.  At one point, the door flew open while on a major highway and the curtains were flying out the door!   My favourite part of the entire trip however was the border crossing into Detroit.  When we stopped to hand over our pile of passports the border guard asked my dad to turn off Erv because he’s so loud…Bad Idea.  Erv didn’t want to turn back on.  So here is my big ol family in our big beast of a motor home stuck in the lane blocking all of the other cars from crossing the border.  Needless to say people were not happy.  But, as my family does, we took it as another grand adventure and we all got out to push Erv out of the way.  There were 9 of us out pushing Erv with dad steering and mom taking a photo of course while all the cars lined up waiting watched.  It was awesome.

Education and Academic Career
I’m currently entering my 4th year at the University of Guelph doing an Honours Bachelor or Applied Science in Adult Development. I plan to take most of a 5th year to write a thesis and finish up a few courses and then move on to my Masters in Social Work.

I spend a lot of my time and effort on the issue of world hunger. I am very involved with Meal Exchange and this past Halloween ran the first ever Trick or Eat campaign in my hometown. It was a huge challenge to take on but ended up being extremely successful!! Our campaign collected 2332 lbs of non-perishable food items and raised over $715. I recently attended the University of Guelph’s Universities Fighting World Hunger Summit where students from around the world joined together to discuss issues, initiatives, goals, and solutions to the global hunger crisis.

Hobbies
Most of my hobbies are artsy. I love scrap-booking, jewelry making, and creating my own cards and gifts. Aside from that I love snowboarding. My parents had my brother and I skiing as soon as we could walk! They had those hilarious harnesses on us so we wouldn’t escape, and the hooks at the front of the skis to keep our skis in a “pizza” so that we wouldn’t take off. We’ve loved skiing and snowboarding our whole lives! I love canoeing and kayaking I spent a brief time as a river guide and do a lot of outdoor camping, biking, and survival camping with my dad, brother, and partner. I also played Ringette all through high school and would still be playing if I could fit it in to my busy schedule!