SENIOR PROFILE 2024: Siena Jekel

Siena Jekel came to NuVu at the early age of 12, after a challenging time in the traditional public school system. After being told that multiple learning disabilities were the reason for her struggles, Siena and her family came to NuVu looking for a solution—and found inspiration.

“When I came here we thought I had all sorts of different learning disabilities, but after I was here for a month, they were gone,” she recalls. Her focus, motivation and drive were ignited by the exploration of subjects and freedom of the design based studios.

Siena also credits the NuVu coaches for the change in her educational outlook. “NuVu allowed me to first off, find my passion because there were so many different medium explorations and opportunities for me to discover. I was able to find that weird niche thing that I was interested in, and then the coaches encouraged me to practice it. A lot.

That niche thing involved digital animation, and Siena captured her learning in this field within her senior Capstone project, a 3D animated short film entitled Echoes of Memory. “The whole film looks like an oil painting and is about trauma and PTSD, specifically in cases of immigration and immigration from zones of conflict,” she explains. “I was really inspired to do this project for my parents, who grew up with that experience.”

Now headed to Vancouver to attend Think Tank, one of the most respected schools at the graduate level for visual effects and game art, Siena says it was her NuVu portfolio of work that landed this opportunity. “Because I had the ability to do all this as my high school education, I had the portfolio that a college student would've had in this area,” she proudly admits. “I think that in the end, what a lot of people look for in the creative industries is a solid portfolio, and that’s something you naturally produce at NuVu.”

‍