Alumni Digest.

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The long way back to an earlier passion

Five alumni describe career paths that curved, paused and eventually returned to something they had once set aside. Published in Alumni Digest as verified reporting from the University of British Columbia.

Five alumni describe career paths that curved, paused and eventually returned to something they had once set aside.

Alumni Digest editorial deskSeptember 8, 20263 min read
In the September issue
A collage of alumni stories about careers that came full circle.
The final instalment of UBC Magazine’s Readers Write career series asks alumni to look backward without treating the past as a plan. Their stories include sport, design, food, science and other interests that reappeared after apparently unrelated work. One contributor moved from competitive skiing through film production, sales and business development before finding a way back to sport. The value of the account is not a universal formula for career change; it is permission to notice which skills travelled with the detour. A career can be nonlinear without being incoherent. Hindsight supplies the connective tissue, but the next move still has to be chosen in the present. Photo: Reporting: Vicky Tran, BA’04. Source image retained for editorial review; rights clearance is still required before any broader reuse.

The context

Where the work begins

The final instalment of UBC Magazine’s Readers Write career series asks alumni to look backward without treating the past as a plan. Their stories include sport, design, food, science and other interests that reappeared after apparently unrelated work.

The work

In the field

One contributor moved from competitive skiing through film production, sales and business development before finding a way back to sport. The value of the account is not a universal formula for career change; it is permission to notice which skills travelled with the detour.

The takeaway

What follows

A career can be nonlinear without being incoherent. Hindsight supplies the connective tissue, but the next move still has to be chosen in the present.

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