Share your news! We invite all Waterloo Arts alumni to submit a class note with any personal or professional updates in about 75 words. We'd love to include your latest news in a future issue of Arts & Letters!
2000s
1997, Williams Cafe. From left to right: Tracey, Nirmalene, Shar, Deann, Roopali, and Edith
2026: reunited at Warrior Field for Homecoming to celebrate 25 years since graduating
Friends across faculties and over the years: Tracey Seupaul (BA ’01), Nirmalene Chelvanayagam (BAsc ’01), Shar Noaman (BMath ’01), Deann Brown (BA ’01). Roopali Kapoor (BA ’01), and Edith Ukwuoma (BMath ’01) celebrated together at this year's Homecoming celebrations.
Three Fine Arts classmates — Selene Hur (BA ’01), Aimee Hawkins (BA ’00) and Gosia Brestovacki née Cuber (BA ’01, MA ’21) — marked 30 years of friendship and 25 years since graduation with a celebratory trip to Greece this summer. Their travels together have become a tradition: in 2001, they backpacked across Europe for six weeks, and in 2011, they flew to Sicily for their 10-year anniversary, and they have enjoyed many smaller trips in between. From the lecture halls and studios at Waterloo to adventures around the world, their friendship has flourished. As they put it: “Cheers to our continued friendship that started in our first week at Waterloo!”
2010s
Olivia Vanderwal (BA ’15, English Language & Literature) has recently started a new job as a Corporate Communications Specialist at Joseph Brant Hospital in Burlington. Having previously worked at UWaterloo, she's excited to bring her digital marketing and content design skills to the health care sector.
Brooke Kathleen Brassard (PhD ’18, Religious Studies) published her book titled Thirsty Land into Springs of Water: Negotiating a Place in Canada as Latter-day Saints with University of Toronto Press in 2025. The book answers questions about Canadian and religious identities, immigration, and integration of Latter-day Saints in southern Alberta between 1887 and 1947.
Bernice Ma (MDEI ’18, Digital Experience Innovation). After her small business, Made of Honour Co., grew, she and her husband opened Paper Marché, a thoughtfully curated gift shop at 132 Ahrens St. W. in Kitchener. Their shop features local and Canadian makers, with a strong focus on supporting small businesses and helping them grow. Beyond retail, they host workshops and community events that bring people together, fostering creativity, connection, and meaningful experiences within the community.
2020s
Brendan James (BGBDA ’23, Global Business & Digital Arts) recently joined Superwhisper as a founding team member, leading growth and creative for the Toronto-based AI startup. Superwhisper is a voice dictation app that lets users talk instead of type, anywhere on their computer. The bootstrapped team has seen rapid growth, onboarding thousands of users at Meta and OpenAI to increase workplace productivity, along with thousands of Waterloo students and alumni.