“It would be so moving to be with her, because she was such a positive kid with a half-full cup mentality and ‘don’t sweat the little things,’” said Maija Nenonen’s father, Michael. Originally from Sault Ste. Marie, Nenonen was a freshman in Business Administration at the Ivey School of Business at Western University. Her parents told CBC News she was going to the library to study for her exams that week when she was fatally beaten.
“My wife sent her a message that morning to wish her good luck in her exams and what went through my mind was ‘This is a nightmare I’ll wake up from.’ It was surreal, “said Michael Nenonen, referring to the news of his daughter’s death. Emergency crews were called to 974 Western Road in the area of ​​a mansion-style student rental building east of Platt’s Lane shortly after 1pm on Monday, following reports that a woman had been hit by a vehicle. Nenonen was pronounced dead at the scene when emergency crews arrived. Police say the driver of the vehicle remained at the scene.

Her lively social circle

Maija Nenonen (left) with her parents Michael and Pina and her brother Mika (right) (Submitted)
The young woman’s mother, Pina, said her daughter’s friends refer to her as a “bright light” with humor that made friends wherever she went and acted as a bridge to her various groups of friends. “Her friends told me that because Maija was the bridge they brought to each other’s life, they had to maintain their friendship to honor her … She was a good friend,” said Pina Nenonen. Nenonen wanted to pursue a professional career and recently did an internship at Bell Canada in Toronto. Her parents had to visit her on Easter weekend to help her relocate to the city. “She often talked about the desire of the family, that was probably the biggest goal in her life, really, and that obviously is not going to happen anymore,” said her dad. He added that Western has done everything to support their family in this time of tragedy and he is proud that his daughter is loved so much by the community. “She will miss her. We are broken and we have lost her potential and her dreams. She had big dreams and I am sorry to see that her light went out so soon,” Pina said. Nenonen is survived by her parents Michael and Pina and her older brother Mika.