With a career ranging from trauma-informed teaching to international education and award-winning paleoart, Nikita Griffioen has followed an unconventional path.  After completing her Bachelor of Arts in less than three years, Nikita went on to earn a Bachelor of Education from the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) in 2017. Since graduating, Nikita has dedicated…

Ashlyen Singh doesn’t see themself as remarkable. They balk at the idea of being recognized and are quick to shift the spotlight to the people and communities that have shaped them.   “Everything I am today has come from other people,” they say. “Everything I do is done with others, in partnership. It feels strange to…

Sheetal Deo (BA ’12) changed lanes to follow her heart, centering her life’s work around equity and accessibility. This comes through in the way she approaches her work as a lawyer.  “While community legal aid centres exist and provide free legal help, these organizations are often under-funded, under-resourced, and as a result, unable to help…

  Lawyer. Leader. Podcaster. At just 29 years old, Aaron Pete has proven he’s not afraid to take on challenges.  Since graduating from UFV in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a communications certificate, Aaron has focused on helping others and contributing to his community. In 2022, soon after completing law school…

 Anyone who has spent time in the emergency room with an asthmatic child knows how scary an asthma attack can be.  But what if you could prevent childhood asthma in the womb?  That’s a goal that Dr. Christopher Pascoe and his colleagues are trying to achieve through their research on the respiratory system.  Chris, who…

Tara-Lynn Kozma-Perrin is an artist. She’s also a community builder. And an experienced public servant.   Combine those three superpowers and you have all the necessary ingredients for bringing communities to life. And UFV helped her develop those skillsets. Twice.  Her first degree was a Bachelor of Fine Arts, completed in 2008.   “I started out…

Scholarships and awards were pivotal to Keenan Beavis’ (BBA ’18) success at the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV). Now, seven years after graduating, Keenan is making sure today’s UFV students have similar opportunities.   A graduate of UFV’s Bachelor of Business Administration program, Keenan has turned his gift for entrepreneurship into a thriving business while…

For Evan Wiens, dentistry goes beyond perfecting smiles — it’s about giving back through mentorship and community service. A 2006 graduate of UFV’s Bachelor of Science program and recipient of the 2013 Young Distinguished Alumni Award, Evan balances his dentistry practice, leadership roles in dental organizations, and his family of four. As president of the…

Dr. Bonnie Reilly Schmidt has been a pioneer, not once, but twice.  As part of the first generation of women to serve as members of the RCMP and later as a scholar documenting their experiences through her doctoral research, Bonnie first discovered her passions as a mature student at what was then the University College…

Tracey Vanderaegen-Jones credits UFV with giving her the foundational skills for a successful 30-year nursing career. Now, she has taken the expertise she gained through her education and experience and uses it to save lives in organ recovery.  After graduation in 1994, Tracey worked as an on-call, casual nurse at a local hospital, and then…

“I’m one of those forever students,” says UFV alumna Shana Smith (BA ’16). “I just love learning.”  So much so that she didn’t want to leave — after graduating with a major in English and a minor in Media and Communication, she continued on as an employee. Shana now brings her creativity to UFV’s Information…

It’s a long journey from refugee to Federal Court judge, and UFV was an important step along the way for Justice Shirzad Ahmed.   At the age of 18 Shirzad was a political exile from Kurdistan. He gained temporary refuge in Italy and a permanent home in Canada.  Launching his post-secondary studies at UFV (then UCFV)…