Dané Van Tonder
Dané Van Tonder has been committed to being involved in the community at Saint Mary’s and in Halifax since she moved to Nova Scotia in 2019.
An engaged, active student, she joined Halifax Helpers, an organization that provides extra school support for students aged 6 to 18. This experience built on her experience with a similar program she participated in while in Ontario. Dané also tutored Korean students in Science and English, enjoyed playing intramural volleyball and ultimate frisbee, and worked as an Environmental Technician at the Atlantic Gold mine full time while studying part time.
A native of South Africa, Dané has been in Canada with her family for 10 years. She transferred to Saint Mary’s after a year at the University of Windsor and is now graduating with a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Biology with minor in Psychology. She will write the Dental Aptitude Test (DAT) this summer and plans to pursue dentistry school in 2023.
Preferred name: Dané
Hometown: Born and raised in South Africa, Cape Town, and now lives in Fall River, NS
Degree: Bachelor of Science in Biology with a minor in Psychology
Graduation date: May 19, 2022
Favourite class: Surprisingly, a Psychology course I took; “Human and Sexual Behaviour”
Awards: Science Valedictorian, Spring 2022
Future plans (education): Going back to school for another four years of dentistry (not sure where yet)
Future plans (career): Dentistry
Favourite spot at SMU: I spend most of my time in the library so probably the library on the third floor with a view to the plant wall
Advice for new students: Do your best and if you don’t do as good as what you’d like or hoped for, don’t be discouraged because if it was easy then everyone would be doing it and there’d be no challenge. As long as you do your part, the rest will come easy. Take breaks and don’t burn yourself out. Your mental health is more important.