Meet a Colleague: Pascale Couturier

Meet a Colleague: Pascale Couturier Pascale Couturier serves as assistant director of financial aid.

W&L News Office
June 10, 2026

Q. How long have you worked at W&L?
I have worked at W&L for one year.

Q. What is the favorite aspect of your job at W&L?
I love working with students and learning about their backgrounds, hearing their stories and understanding their goals and aspirations. Being able to play even a small role in helping students access the exceptional opportunities that W&L provides is deeply rewarding and gives me a great sense of purpose.

I'm also fortunate to work alongside a very kind and supportive group of colleagues. They make W&L a great place to work. I can genuinely say that I look forward to coming to the office every day because of the people I get to work with.

Q. If you chose a different path, what other career would you have?
Something else in education - teacher, researcher or advocate.

Q. Where did you grow up?
I am French-Canadian and grew up in Ottawa, Ontario.

Q. What was your favorite subject in school?
History.

Q. What three words describe you best?
Creative, dedicated and curious.

Q. Name one person from history you would like to spend a day with and why.
Dorothea Lange. She was the first documentary photographer I studied during my undergraduate career, and her work left a lasting impression on me. Her ability to use photography to amplify marginalized voices and advance social justice has always inspired me. I would have loved the opportunity to learn from her for a day.

Q. Who is the most famous person you have met and where did you meet them?
I met former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on a hiking trail outside my hometown.

Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?
Loud chewing.

Q. What do you like to do away from work?
Film photography, gardening and spending time outside with my husband and children.

Q. What is your least favorite chore at home?
Let me just say that my clean clothes spend more time in the laundry basket than in my dresser!

Q. What is your favorite family holiday tradition?
Going to the sugar shack and eating maple taffy with my family at Easter.

Q. What is the most adventurous thing that you have ever done?
I used to be a canoe guide, and I once spent 25 days out of cell range, canoeing more than 300 miles in the middle of the Quebec wilderness. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life.

Q. What do you pretend to hate but secretly love?
Cardio.

Q. What is your all-time favorite food or food dish?
My dad's paella and my mom's apple cake.

Q. Where would you choose to build your dream home?
On a lake in the Laurentian Mountains.

Q. What is your all-time favorite book?
"Le Petit Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Q. What is your all-time favorite movie?
"La Haine."

Q. What song or artist could you play on repeat?
Recently it's been "We Outside" by Flagboy Giz.

Q. Tell us something most people don't know about you.
My family has lived in Niger, the Philippines and Egypt.