Hello! If you're new to this blog, I'd love to tell you a bit about myself:
My name is Kevin. When I was six years old, I told my parents I wanted to be a teacher. How I ended up in teaching, though, has taken many twists and turns.
I grew up in East Vancouver, on the ancestral lands of the Stz’uminus, səl̓ilwətaɁɬ təməxʷ (Tsleil-Waututh), Hul’qumi’num Treaty Group, S’ólh Téméxw (Stó:lō), Skwxwú7mesh-ulh Temíx̱w (Squamish), šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmaɁɬ təməxʷ (Musqueam), Qayqayt, and Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla peoples. I had always imagined myself becoming a teacher, but over the years in public education, witnessing teacher strikes and program cuts made me question whether it was a viable path. I decided to set that dream aside and pursue what I believed would be a more financially secure career in the sciences.
Four weeks into my time in the Faculty of Science at the University of British Columbia—after countless hours in labs and lectures on chemical structures—I realized it wasn’t the right fit. One particularly engaging English class inspired me to transfer to the Faculty of Arts. I later graduated with a degree in International Relations and Geography and pivoted into marketing, which felt like the most business-adjacent career to my love for English and communications. I started at a boutique events consulting firm, then moved on to the Robert H. Lee Graduate School at the UBC Sauder School of Business, where I became a Recruitment and Admissions Manager.
When I began my career, I had no idea where marketing would take me. But in the first seven years alone, I had the opportunity to travel to 34 countries and meet people from all over the world.
Eventually, I pursued my MBA at the UBC Sauder School of Business, initially considering a move into consulting. But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, I reevaluated my goals and pivoted into the growing technology space, landing a role at Shopify, Canada’s largest tech company, where I worked for three years.
As the tech industry shifted, I decided to revisit my passion for teaching. I was fortunate to teach one course—Marketing Automation—at Vancouver Community College, in the Digital Marketing Technology diploma program. VCC holds a special place in my heart: it’s where my father learned to make pastries and began his own career. Teaching that class changed everything for me. It reignited my passion and gave me a career I could truly see myself in for the long term.
Today, I'm an instructor in the Business Technology department at Vancouver Community College—and I love my job. After 11 years of exploring, pivoting, and discovering, I’m proud to say I’m finally back in the career I dreamed of as a six-year-old. I’m excited to continue growing in this path through the Professional Instructor Diploma Program.