Natalie Pennell is a 22-year-old born and raised in Windsor Ontario. She is currently majoring in Movement Science at the University of Windsor where she plans to pursue her childhood dream of becoming a high school teacher after graduation. Involved is one word that accurately describes Natalie because of her many commitments and ability to have a balanced life between work, leisure, friends, and family. Natalie recognizes the concept of making time for things in life that she values while also allowing time to regenerate and focus on self-care. Each of these aspects in life are important but she manages to have time for them all by following her personal belief of focusing on one day at a time, so everything falls into place. Not only on a day-to-day basis but also looking at life through the big picture. Her strong suits are time management, dependability, and working well in a team.Additionally, Natalie is very aware of current worldwide issues and believes it’s important to stay on top of them by reading and finding trustworthy information sources. One issue that Natalie is passionate about is the effects of climate change on the planet which is also very prevalent to Tecumseh and the surrounding areas. As Miss Tecumseh, she would use her public presence to bring awareness to the issue and acknowledge different ways to reduce the carbon footprint. In her daily life she stresses the importance of recycling and being courteous of the planet we are living on. She hopes she can emphasize these issues even further one day.

Another passion of Natalie’s is her studies and future goal of becoming a teacher. Her interest sparked from the combination of being very patient, her love of helping others, specifically children, and her enjoyment in academics. As a pre-teen Natalie would help her siblings with homework and later, she carried her talents to become a volunteer tutor for the United Way. Natalie volunteered her time to assist several students with Science and English studies each week. During National Volunteer week her hard work and dedication was highlighted as being an asset to the children in need of help through a post on the United Way Windsor-Essex Instagram page. This organization strives to help less fortunate students in secondary school reach their full academic potential and Natalie is very proud to be a part of it. She plans to continue her volunteer work in the fall semester. To give back in a similar way her charity of choice is the United Way. Donations will be used to “unlock youth potential so that a generation from now, we can eliminate childhood poverty in our community (United Way).” Natalie hopes to build confidence in young girl’s academics, inspire and give resources to those that are in need to create a better future.