As I prepare for graduation and think about my next challenge in graduate studies, I must acknowledge that I would most likely never have attended university had it not been for the Humanities Diploma program.

The Humanities Diploma program was an excellent starting point to my university career. It introduced me to university study and served to guide me throughout my undergraduate experience: I think it should be required learning for any new university student. The opportunity and direction to explore emergent knowledge-sharing technologies and their potential implications for the near future had an impact that significantly enriched my studies in social science, and which will continue to influence my graduate level studies.

The Humanities Diploma program both enabled and inspired me, and continues to do so. 
– Joshua Lambert

During the four short years of my undergraduate studies I have been privileged to complete a double major, two diplomas, two field schools, a work-study, and a practicum abroad. My studies have taken me to the mountains of BC’s interior, to Poland and to rural Guatemala. I have experienced being a schoolteacher, an archaeologist, and have landed a lucrative job with a professional pollster, leading teams and designing campaigns.

For many people, deciding what’s next after completing degree studies means looking for a job and feeling a bit lost. However, I am realizing that university for me has always been a means to access a world with resources and connections, through which I can carry out projects and research that would otherwise just sit in my mind. Re-imagining education (inspired by Dr. Sugata Mitra), designing systems to support and augment third world NGOs, and furthering decolonization through historical study and art are the major projects I'm now juggling in my mind.

The Humanities Diploma program both enabled and inspired me, and continues to do so.

• Posted March 21, 2015