Meet Kyell Erikson, a second year student just beginning his journey in the home of the Vikes. While he has not chosen a major, he intends to pursue the career of becoming a French teacher. Kyell was born and raised on Vancouver Island, in Campbell River, the salmon capital of the world. He describes himself as a small town type of person, and would love to return to his hometown, which he describes as a “beautiful, beautiful town, you can get to mountains, creeks, multiple rivers, the ocean, the forest, and so much more within a 30 minute drive”.
Kyell is a Community Leader (CL) at the Uvic Residence this year, and spends much of his time volunteering. He loves music, longboarding, and socializing. Playing music is his passion; back at his home town he was in a band, he has been singing his whole life, and playing guitar for 11 years. He also enjoys writing music in his spare time, and likes to have jam sessions. In addition to music, Kyell enjoys longboarding, saying that “it is a great way to get around campus and it feels liberating and nice.” Kyell loves to socialize, he is very outgoing and he has made a lot of acquaintances over the years through volunteer work. The most recent volunteer work he has done was with “Project Serve” in which he was a project facilitator. According to him, “Volunteering is important because you get to meet some really cool people when you get involved.” Kyell finds that volunteering is a win-win situation since he enjoys helping people and making them happy.
People may wonder how Kyell is able to fit everything in his schedule while he is studying full-time. To this, Kyell answers “I’m the type of person that if I want to do something, then I will make time for it.” He is pretty relaxed with school work; he gets everything done while fitting procrastination and volunteering into his schedule. Being a CL also helps him become more involved in the community of students, and reduces time for commuting, giving him more time to get things done.
There are many people out there who have trouble managing their time; even if they would like to volunteer, they always feel like they don’t have the time to because of school or other responsibilities. Kyell’s advice to them is that volunteer opportunities are “plugged”, people come to you once you make the first initiating interest. “You got to find something that you really would love to do. It’s the sense that you’re going to help somebody, so it shouldn’t matter what you’re volunteering for but at the same time it still does. If you want to volunteer but still feel like you don’t have the time to do it, then it feels like as if you have not found the right volunteer opportunity for you.” Kyell thinks that it would be a good idea for the students to talk to the volunteering organizations and try to work out schedules that will work for both parties.
Kyell is outgoing and always tries to be enthusiastic around people, he hopes that his involvements will inspire them and help them find their true inner potential. “In the end it’s really up to them what they want to do, you just got to figure out yourself. You are the center of your own universe, you just are and that is the way you are supposed to be. Motivation is very intrinsic; it’s what you want to get out of it, what you want to do. It’s just the matter of saying yes.”
The one thing that inspired Kyell a lot was the movie “Yes Man”, with Jim Carrey. After watching “Yes Man”, it changed Kyell’s view of life. It inspired him to say yes to things that he normally would’ve been reluctant to try. It encouraged him to try new things and to take risks. “Saying yes to something once doesn’t mean you have to say yes to it the second time. It helps to learn more about yourself and helps you to figure out what moves you and what truly inspires you.”
One quirky fact about Kyell: “I don’t have much of a filter; I speak my mind in ways that is not necessarily rude.” Kyell says that he speaks in metaphor when he is experiencing powerful emotions, “I am good at transmitting my emotions through words without using those specific words at all.” In other words, Kyell believes that he is more of a vibe person; he sends out vibes effectively.
Kyell’s goals for the future and this year would be to expand his musical network here in Victoria, to achieve continued academic success. If you ever see Kyell around campus or downtown strumming his guitar, be sure to stop and say hi!