Alum of the Month: Jordyn Monaghan
January 27, 2024
Jordyn Monaghan is passionate about supporting the community with a trauma-informed, harm-reduction and strength-based approach. That passion guided her through her undergraduate degree at VIU, where she studied Psychology and Criminology. Monaghan is now doing a Master of Science in Forensic Psychology at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. We caught up with her to find out more... Read more
Alum of the Month: Perry Bulwer
January 14, 2024
Coming to Vancouver Island University (then Malaspina College) in the early 1990s was a turning point in Perry Bulwer’s life. He had dropped out of high school in 1972 to join a fundamentalist Christian cult when he was just 16 years old. When he got out 20 years later, he described himself as “intellectually starving.” The Liberal Studies program helped him overcome his religious indoctrination... Read more
Alum of the Month: Mary Clare Massicotte
October 20, 2023
A self-described lifelong learner, Mary Clare Massicotte enrolled in VIU’s Master of Education in Educational Leadership program in 2020 at age 64. By this time, she had retired from her full-time career with the federal government and started her own consulting business. Completing a master’s degree had long been a goal for Mary Clare. She graduated from the program this past spring. We caught... Read more
Alum of the Month: Telma Dos Santos
September 8, 2023
Telma Dos Santos was working as a health care assistant when she first heard about the Activity Assistant certificate at VIU. The program is designed to provide further training for people who have previous experience as a health care aid or community support worker and want to create programming that promotes wellness and fun for those in their care. “I heard about this program from a recreation... Read more
Alum of the Month: Spenser Smith
September 6, 2023
Struggling with substance use in his hometown of Regina, Saskatchewan, Spenser Smith decided to come to a residential treatment centre in Nanaimo. Following his treatment, he made the decision to stay in the city after falling in love “with the rainforest, the wildlife and the small caring community.” He also decided to enroll in VIU’s Creative Writing program to chase his dreams of becoming a... Read more
Alum of the Month: Brian Timmer
July 31, 2023
As a SCUBA instructor at Sundown Diving, Brian Timmer swam amongst the kelp forests in the waters of Nanoose Bay. During heatwaves in 2014 and 2015, he witnessed those kelp forests disappear. A few years later while attending Vancouver Island University, he worked for the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region Research Institute on a kelp restoration project, studying kelp forests and nearshore... Read more
Alum of the Month: Lee Cooper
June 18, 2023
French-inspired and set in a 19th century brick-and-beam building, L’Abattoir sprouted up among the cobblestones of Vancouver’s Gastown neighbourhood more than a decade ago. The restaurant’s executive chef and owner is Lee Cooper, who graduated from VIU’s Culinary Arts program in 1997. The restaurant’s most recent accomplishment is making the Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants list this year. The... Read more
Alum of the Month: Ashley Kuramoto
May 20, 2023
From student to teacher to published author Since graduating from Vancouver Island University in 2011 with her Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education degrees, Ashley Kuramoto has been working her dream job as a teacher. She’s also a mother and, most recently, a published author. In recent months, Kuramoto has written and illustrated two children’s books that encourage families to explore fun... Read more
Alum of the Month: Xander France
April 27, 2023
Xander France has found the ideal job combining his passions for tourism, sales and marketing. He is Director of Marketing and Sales with the Vancouver Island Ferry Company. This new, Nanaimo-based company is about to launch a downtown Nanaimo to downtown Vancouver fast ferry service. The VIU Bachelor of Tourism Management grad has spent the past 14 years enjoying different roles in the sales,... Read more
Alumni spotlight: Amy Armstrong and Vanessa Young
April 13, 2023
Amy Armstrong and Vanessa Young graduated from VIU’s Bachelor of Interior Design program in 2015. They met during their studies and became good friends. Now they work together as senior co-directors of product design and development at Dvele, a home-building company based in California. We caught up with Amy and Vanessa to learn about their time at VIU and how their education helped them prepare... Read more