Student Stories

A “unique archaeological phenomenon” sparked Halle Walle’s desire to get a taste of life in ancient times – figuratively and literally.

Attending VIU allowed Zeke Critchlow to push his limits and uncover a “deep-seated passion for programming and research.” 

“The VIU community has enriched my experience, making it a delightful place to study and grow. The support and encouragement from my instructors have been crucial, pushing me to exceed my perceived limits and explore new heights in my capabilities,” says Zeke. “Thank you to everyone who helped make my VIU experience awesome!”

For Victoria Koutstaal, recreation is more than just fun and games.

“Recreation is community-based and community-building,” she says. “Socialization and our passions are a huge part of our identity as individuals. Without recreation, we have a really difficult – if not impossible – time being healthy, well-rounded human beings. It’s so vital to people’s mental health.”

Growing up in a family of self-taught women cooks, Shannah Pogline was inspired to explore cooking further and enrolled in VIU’s Culinary Arts program. Since graduating in 1999, Shannah has worked in various roles from fine dining, restaurants and catering to meal prepping and schools.

Brian Yin discovered his passion for education while coaching and mentoring others when he worked as an auditor in New York. He contacted his old high school principal about the possibility of becoming a teacher and after an encouraging reply decided to pursue teaching.

He enrolled in VIU’s Bachelor of Education, Post Baccalaureate program, graduating in 2017. He now works as the Principal of Sino-Canada School. 

What began as a typical day for Lucas Gamp turned out to be anything but.

Working as a retail supervisor with hours and shifts that didn’t line up well with childcare availability motivated Amanda Rozenboom to search for other career options.

“I wanted and needed a new career that would better support my family’s needs and allow me to be more present for them,” she explains.

These factors piqued her interest in working in an office environment, and she found herself “in the right time and place to make the change.”

Working as a high school teacher in India, Harleen Kalra says it was the sudden transition to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic that first piqued her in interest in the evolving impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on education.

When Chiara Sedola wrote a paper for a VIU class, she had no idea her work would take her to Washington, DC to present at a conference.

But that’s exactly how things played out for the fourth-year student, who is majoring in Liberal Studies and Biology.

It was while working a “crappy” job that Philip Lawton decided it was time to figure out what he wanted to do for a career. He thought the Adult Basic Education (ABE) program at VIU would be a good place to start.

“I’m 32 and left high school 16 years ago, so my transcripts are bit archaic to say the least, and I probably needed an upgraded anyways,” he says. “My wife had a good experience at VIU, so I knew about the program and decided to check it out.”