Meet Channing! Channing was a member of the UVic Grad Class of 2015, and graduated last semester with a major in Women’s Studies and a minor in History. She is passionate about being involved, loves meeting new people, bringing people together, and helping others so that awesome memories and experiences are created for those around her. When she is not busy travelling across North America for work, this recent UVic alum can be found figure skating and watching football in her spare time (she loves her BC Lions)!
One of Channing’s most recent experiences that changed her life (for the better!), was her year-long exchange to Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia during her fourth year at UVic. Anytime she’s talking to someone about this experience, she is always describes it as being the best year of her life. For anyone who is even considering going on exchange, Channing highly recommends going for it. Why? She says going on exchange is an experience you can’t get anywhere else and is absolutely life-changing. It will also replace any expectations you could have ever had about the experience: the places you’ll see, the people you’ll meet, and the memories you’ll create are things Channing says will completely change you in the best way. Channing’s exchange year in Australia was so unforgettable that she can’t wait to go back; in fact, it’s her dream!
One thing that Channing learned from her adventures in Newcastle was how important it is to get involved at school. In the dorms at her Australian university (the University of Newcastle), the school would hold competitions between the different dorms in the areas of sports, academics, environment, and charity. Dorm culture was a huge part of student life at Channing’s university and Aussies took all events seriously. The dorm with the most points won the respective “shield” for that discipline and every student wanted to be a part of their dorms success (shoutout to her dorm, Edwards Hall aka Teds!)! By immersing herself in a brand new culture and meeting new people in a new country, Channing learned how much she valued being involved.
In her senior year at UVic, Channing was inspired by her exchange experience in Australia to fully immerse herself in the UVic community by getting involved and helping change student culture at UVic. She joined the Vikes Nation Ambassador team where she worked on both the Marketing and Engagement Team. In her position, she was frequently in the Quad with other VNAs spreading the word about on-campus events for UVic students! She also worked as the Director of Communications on the UVic Grad Committee and helped organize and coordinate both the Grad Luncheon and Grad Party for UVic’s Grads of 2015. Channing’s goal was to see more people connected within her Grad Class and help create a memorable experience for those who would soon be graduating by bringing people together and changing the culture on campus at UVic.
Currently, Channing works as a Trip Planner for Campus Vacations (a student travel company that organizes trips for university and college students). Campus Vacations organizes SnowJam (weekend skiing/snowboarding/partying trips to Whistler, Panorama, and Mont Tremblant) and Spring Break (week-long reading break trips to Mexico and the Caribbean), and is a part of the I Love Travel family, which also includes The New Breakaway Tours, S-Trip!, Unleashed Travel (Australia), and Stoke Travel (Spain). While in her final year at UVic, Channing was a Campus Rep for SnowJam and before graduating, was given the opportunity to be brought onto the Campus Vacations team full-time! She now works with students across British Columbia, Washington state, Oregon State and Ontario, and builds teams of Campus Reps who she coaches in continuing to spread the word about SnowJam through their various networks so that they too can help plan their #tripofalifetime. Her favourite part of her job? She gets to travel across North America, and go on the trips with the students!
Registration for BC university/college students and their friends for SnowJam 2016 is happening NEXT WEEK – Monday November 9th, 2015 @ 12pm noon. More details about the event can be found on the Snow Jam UVic website. Alternatively, you can get in contact with Channing at 1-866-991-8747 extension 225 or by e-mail at channing.masuhara@campusvacations.com.