Katelin Albert - Early Achievement
Katelin Albert (Bachelor of Arts '08) grew up in Powell River and came to VIU in 2003 to play soccer for the women's varsity team. At first, she didn't know what she wanted to do, wasn't a top student, and had never heard of graduate school. However, she was curious and outgoing and soon began to pursue her interests in psychology and sociology.
The combination of VIU's small class sizes, personal attention, patient professors and undergraduate research opportunities, coupled with her own natural inquisitiveness, helped Albert blossom. "VIU changed my life," says Albert, who received VIU's 2016 Distinguished Alumni Early Achievement Award at the convocation ceremony on January 28, 2016. "I am beyond honoured and humbled to receive this award."
Albert completed a double Major in Psychology and Sociology with Distinction at VIU in 2008, then a Master's degree in Sociology at the University of Victoria. She is currently a fifth year PhD candidate in Canada's top-ranked Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto.
Albert has garnered provincial, national and international acclaim for her scholarship and is well on her way to becoming a university professor. In January, she will begin teaching a fourth year undergraduate level course she developed titled, "Gender, Health, and Medicine." Read VIU Grad Achieves International Success. You can also watch Katelin's acceptance speech.