I was having lunch with a friend and former colleague last week when he asked me an unusual question: who are some of the students that I have taught?
It is one of those questions which floors you for a moment. The list of names that flooded my brain left me speechless.
I have been at UNBC for 20 years, having arrived just in time for the opening of the main campus. I have taught first year chemistry pretty much every year since and first year chemistry classes are invariably some of the largest.
All told, I have taught 157 courses and over 6,000 students. Since some students have taken multiple courses with me that is about 4,000 unique individuals. Still, it is 4,000 individuals.
So, when I was asked the question, it is the memory of those 4,000 students that came flooding back or, at least, a surprisingly large number.
The students I remember most are the ones that were unique for one reason or another. Some have gone on to great things.
The first name that popped into my mind was Christina Neufeld. Basketball fans in town might remember her as the star centre for the Women's Timberwolves in their early days. She was a dedicated, driven player with a wicked set of elbows.
She was also an outstanding student. Truly one of our many exceptional students with an enviable academic record. She entered the first class of the Northern Medical Program. She graduated in 2008 and has taken up practice in the north.
She is only one of 100 students from UNBC that have entered into the Northern Medical Program. Students such as Cameron Grose, Erin Carlson, Chris Uy, Saelle Bradwell, and Erin Doyle also come to mind. Many of our students have set up practice in Prince George or established themselves in other parts of northern British Columbia. Many have gone on to win awards and distinctions.
If the only thing that UNBC had done in 20 years was to contribute more doctors to northern communities, some might argue that would be enough.
But we have done way more.
It doesn't matter where you go in northern B.C., you run into UNBC graduates.
UNBC graduates have ended up in a diversity of jobs. Dan Milburn comes to mind. He took first year chemistry with me a long time ago. I don't think it is part of the skill set he needed to become a successful planner but you never know.
Then there is one of our first two chemistry graduates, Lynda Susag. She left Prince George after working at the university for two years after graduating but returned to complete her master's degree. She now teaches chemistry at the College of New Caledonia.
Another chemistry student, Anita Sabatino, went on to pharmacy at UBC and is now working in town as a pharmacist.
Pharmacy, dentistry and other health professions might be expected from our students but they are also working at Cariboo brewing, at the pulp mills, for consulting firms, for banks or even at newspapers.
It is not just in Prince George that UNBC students have made a difference. Towns from Likely to Atlin feature students from the University.
As we enter our 25th anniversary year, the university likes to pull out statistics such as "we have more UNBC graduates working in our region than all of the other B.C. universities combined."
There is no doubt that is true - it is why the university was located here in the first place, to educate students in the north so that they would stay - but statistics don't tell the real story.
The real story is told by the individuals we meet. Whether it is Gordon Brownridge or Ray Noonan or Jocelyn Unger or Larisa Clotildes, it is the story that each of them can tell that makes a difference.
That is not to say that all of UNBC's graduates end up in the north. One of our very first chemistry students was Ronny Priefer. He is now a professor in the College of Pharmacy at the Western New England University.
You might recall a front page article in the Citizen about his work. He is spearheading a project to develop a breathalyzer-type test to help diabetics monitor their blood sugar levels. Heady stuff.
Dr. Priefer is one of the many students that started with the university 20 years ago that are now filling positions around the world. We have students living on all of the continents and international connections that are rich and deep. Heck, some of our students have even traveled to Antarctica.
UNBC has graduate close to 11,000 students and every one of them is making a difference in the world. But mostly, they are making a difference in northern British Columbia.
