Peter Beharry and Karen Chang: Sharing career experiences to empower students
As Peter Beharry (BFA’96) congratulated graduating students on stage as part of the Chancellor’s Procession at UBC’s Spring Congregation in 2023, a young woman strode up to him. “Hey, Mr. B! It’s me! From Hamber!” It was one of Beharry’s former students from Eric Hamber Secondary School, where Beharry is the Head of Fine Arts and a drama teacher.
Being chosen to serve as the alumni representative for the Faculty of Arts at the ceremony, due to his past volunteer work, had already been a pleasant surprise. Poignantly, it was the first time he had donned a cap and gown at UBC — due to acting work, he missed his own graduation when he acquired a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting, in 1996.
Reuniting with a former student added to an already notable full-circle experience.
“There’s an example of just a really wonderful, unexpected beautiful moment that came directly from volunteering,” he says.
Sociology in action
Reaching a point in his life where he wanted to give back to the community, he volunteered to be an alumni participant in a course assignment for Sociology 102, which he has continued to be involved in since Sociology Professor Neil Armitage started it in 2017. In this assignment, teams of three to four sociology students interview alumni about their career. Approximately 1,500 students have now participated in this exercise.
Armitage launched this initiative in his class by envisioning alumni as a teaching resource.
“I wanted to provide an opportunity to the thousands of alumni that are interested in contributing their time and energy to the learning of students, and building community,” he stated.
In this assignment, Armitage explains, students put research ethics, methods, analysis, and course concepts into practice. Each team analyzes the alumni interviewee’s responses, and each student then writes an essay about that.
Although this assignment is part of a first-year course, Armitage points out that this can help students consider opportunities available at UBC. As students in their upper-levels could also benefit from alumni advice and guidance, he’s open to further discussion about how to incorporate alumni into education.
Beyond the BA
As an advocate for empowering youth, Karen Chang (BA’97), the founder and CEO of Umbrella Consulting, has volunteered annually for this class assignment since 2018. (She was also chosen to be an alumni representative in the Chancellor’s Procession for graduation in 2022.) In particular, she likes to inform students how, much to their surprise, sociology is applicable to numerous fields and professions.
“Many students think that a sociology degree only prepares you for a career in social work or teaching, but sociology can teach you skills that are very relevant for business,” she explains.
As an example, she points out how sociology, as the study of the culture, values, and customs of each society, has helped her adapt to the different workplace characteristics of each company she works with in her consulting career.
“Understanding sociology and societies helped me to understand organizational culture and how to adjust my presentation or communication style according to the organization that I am working with,” she explains.
Overall, she appreciates what this assignment provides students with, as she wishes that she had been able to hear how Sociology alumni had used their degrees when she was a student.
“It’s important for UBC alumni to help equip the next generation with the tools and information they need to make informed decisions for their future,” she says.
Through this course work, Armitage points out, alumni can provide students with a view of what life is like after graduation.
“It exposes students to the reality that careers are not always clear cut and linear, but that many involve some degree of planned happenstance, where certain people and events open up new avenues for knowledge and opportunities,” he explains.
In addition, he says that the interviews can help alleviate anxieties or uncertainties that students may have about their educational path.
“Many students in their final years and after graduation have outlined that the interview…[had] a significant impact on their learning journey,” he adds.
Growth through giving
But it’s not just the students who benefit. Although helping others and selflessness are often associated with volunteering, Beharry highlights how alumni can gain new experiences and interactions to draw upon for their own professional and personal development.
For example, Beharry eschewed Zoom for meeting students in person at UBC. Why? Revisiting campus enabled him to experience the current reality for students. Seeing how much the Point Grey campus has evolved since his undergrad days — such as new buildings or students carrying screens everywhere — also helps him consider how to prepare his high-school students for post-secondary life.
He also found it’s an opportunity for him to reassess his own progress in life.
“It gives you a chance to take stock of where you are in your journey, in all types of ways, reinforcing how far you have come in that journey, or introducing new views, new points, and new ideas of where you might want to move towards in the future by revisiting past sights and memories that have also changed,” he says.
In other words, he feels such experiences can help validate or reaffirm your core values and strengths — and who you are as a person.
“It’s a wonderful way to celebrate one’s life and one’s accomplishments,” he says.