Prince Rupert, BC – Katzie Vanderwoerd understood that her journey toward turning her dreams into reality would require time, commitment, and bravery. Nevertheless, she was determined to achieve her vision for the future. Katzie’s journey eventually led her to Coast Mountain College (CMTN), where she discovered her passion as a student in the Applied Coastal Ecology (ACE) Program.
Growing up in the small community of Gibsons, along the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland, Katzie understands how closely connected everything is with nature. Raised by the ocean, where she and her family were often out on the water, she recalls, "I grew up on the ocean. Parents had a boat. My grandma's a kayak instructor. We would always be out in the water."
Katzie felt it was natural to pursue a career that involved coexisting with and protecting nature, although she didn’t yet know what that would entail. "I knew what I wanted to be doing. I love being outside. I love the environment, nature, all that kind of stuff... I just didn't know where I was going to get it," she recounts.
Her initial search led her to the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, where she thought she would blend in with her peers; however, she soon began to feel disconnected. "When I finished high school, I went to UBC for two and a half years and enrolled in the Applied Animal Biology Program in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems. It was a cute little program, but I hated it." Katzie started her studies during the COVID-19 pandemic, which adversely affected her motivation for the program, but it also gave her time to reflect on what she truly wanted to do. "I was thrown into the big city during COVID, with no idea what I was doing. After my third-year classes transitioned back to in-person, I realized, 'I don't like this. I don't like it at all.' That's when I decided, why am I doing this?"
Initially, Katzie found the transition to the city exciting, having come from a small town of only 5,000 people. She explains, "My graduating class had about 99 people. Everyone knew everything about everyone. You couldn't go to the grocery store without running into someone and having a 20-minute conversation." As her studies progressed, she began to miss that sense of intimacy, feeling she was losing a vital part of her learning experience.
This led Katzie to restart her search, and this time she discovered CMTN's Applied Coastal Ecology (ACE) Program. "I wanted to try and stay as local as possible. I just researched environmental schools online and found the ACE program," she says. Katzie recognized how perfectly it aligned with her passions and quickly signed up, discontinuing her studies at UBC. Recalling her first days of classes, Katzie says she felt nervous but excited. "I've been loving it. It's definitely an experience you won't find anywhere else in BC. Being outside as much as we are is incredible. Our first days were spent doing forest surveys. "
Katzie praises the sense of intimacy she's regained after making the switch, noting that her lessons and her environment now align with her life goals. She particularly values the connection with her instructors, the amount of one-on-one time spent with them, and knowing that they want her to succeed. "Here, it is a lot more personal, and you have a connection with all of your instructors. You are friends with all your instructors, which I love. It is a lot more one-on-one time, [and] they want you to succeed".
In Katzie’s ACE classes, the instructor presents information in class that the students can learn at their own pace. "[Then] we go outside, and practise all those skills. After which, it is just a lot easier. I feel like learning hands-on and visually is a lot easier for me than sitting in a classroom and listening to someone lecture for three hours." Katzie says. She appreciates how ingrained the hands-on philosophy is in all her lessons at CMTN, from forestry to wildlife monitoring to conducting fish surveys.
Katzie does a presentation at the Tea with Elders event describing her time during the Costa Rica Field School.
While enrolled in the ACE Program, Katzie took advantage of the opportunity to join an international field school in Costa Rica. "The whole Costa Rica trip is a whole different realm of things that Coast Mountain was able to give me, [and] it was crazy.” It was there that she experienced more hands-on learning, was immersed in the Indigenous culture, planted trees, and learned about their farming methods. “It was a really cool experience," she says.
As Katzie approaches the end of her time at CMTN, she draws motivation from the strength of her father, mother, grandmother, and uncles, who have persevered through many challenges. She finds encouragement in the solidarity of her friends and instructors, who support her as she learns to adapt to an ever-changing environment. And she gathers strength from within herself to be adventurous and explore new paths.
"Everyone needs to get that it's just a whole life experience where you learn so much more, not about just school stuff. [It's] about yourself," Katzie says as she smiles in anticipation of the journey ahead.
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Media contact:
Heather Bastin
Executive Director, External Relations
hbastin@coastmountaincollege.ca