Student Speakers

Faculty of Science, Faculty of Professional Studies

Bachelor of Business Administration

A student athlete for most of her years at UFV, Kate Fisher successfully balanced the competing demands of academic life and playing on the UFV Cascades soccer team. Kate achieved a 3.75 grade point average over the course of her studies in the Bachelor of Business Administration program and earned U-Sports Academic All-Canadian honours in 2019, 2020, and 2021. This national recognition underscores the impressiveness of her on-field and academic achievements.

Kate worked part-time to finance her education and applied her learning in business and human resources to a supervisory role helping train workers in customer service. She is civic-minded and volunteered with the administrative team of UFV Enactus — a group that empowers students to tackle economic, social, and environmental issues within their communities. Kate presented on behalf of Enactus, developed a newsletter, and supported the administration of this student organization. She also volunteered in a public health clinic in her hometown of Powell River.

Having caught the travel bug while venturing solo in South America and Italy, Kate will soon set out on trips to Vietnam and Bali.

College of Arts

Bachelor of Arts

Danielle Hill came to UFV as a mature student wondering if her age would be a disadvantage. Instead, she found it gave her invaluable focus. Danielle balanced full-time work, full-time homework, and the double full-time career of parenthood. As a woman of Métis heritage, she discovered that as she progressed through her Indigenous studies, she fell in love with new aspects of her identity. Danielle was involved in outreach community work while at UFV and was chosen to be a curator for the Witness Blanket when UFV brought this Indigenous remembrance of residential schools to campus. She has provided educational support to urban and Indigenous families on Stó:lō territories, including in Abbotsford schools, and she has led workshops for district teachers on appropriate Indigenous educational resources and curriculum content. Danielle sees UFV as opening doors and as a positive experience for all students, but especially Indigenous students like herself who have been supported in bringing new ways of learning through an Indigenous lens. As Danielle closes this chapter, she looks forward to expanding her cultural knowledge, sharing what she has learned with others, and the continual discovery of her own story.

UFV departments nominate students to present the graduate address at each Convocation ceremony. It is an honour to be selected to represent the graduates of 2022. We congratulate our four student speakers.

College of Arts: General and Integrated Studies, Faculty of Health Sciences, Faculty of Applied and Technical Studies

Bachelor of Science in Nursing

Sushil Dosanjh had already graduated with a Bachelor of Science from UFV when she decided to change the course of her life. After graduating, she traveled to Europe, Singapore, and India before starting medical school in the Dutch Caribbean. However, she quickly realized what she really wanted was to take more of a personal approach with patients. Instead of pursuing medicine, she applied, and was accepted to, the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program at UFV. Her decision was a good one. Sushil achieved an overall 4.05 grade point average in the program and did so while tutoring other BSN students and mentoring students as part of the BSN Buds program. She was also a nursing student class representative and a member of the Biology/Chemistry Student Association while achieving her first degree. Sushil received the Fraser Health Above and Beyond award, was on the Dean’s List of Distinguished Students (2018–22), and received the UFV Board of Governors Annual Bursary. Sushil is now a nurse in the pediatric ward of Abbotsford General Hospital and may one day pursue the field of forensic nursing.

Faculty of Education, Community, and Human Development

Bachelor of Education

Highly respected by students and faculty in the Teacher Education department, lifelong learner Travis Gingerich had already completed a diploma in Counselling and Caregiving, a Bachelor of Science degree (honours in Physical Geography), and a Master of Science in Physical Geography at Simon Fraser University before coming back to UFV to complete his degree in Education. In addition to an outstanding academic record (a GPA of 4.21), Travis worked with at-risk youth through the Cyrus Centre and volunteered with the Salvation Army Centre of Hope, where he served meals to homeless and displaced individuals. At UFV, Travis worked for two years as a sustainability assistant and as a laboratory and research assistant in the UFV Luminescence Dating Laboratory. Between 2014 and 2016, Travis led Supported Learning Groups (SLG) and taught study groups for challenging firstand second-year courses. He also mentored junior SLG leaders in effective session management and facilitation. His direct supervisor at that time commented on his creative and enthusiastic approach, noting he used reallife examples when explaining geographical phenomena. Travis is looking forward to beginning the next phase in his teaching career in Ontario.