Spencer Antifave didn’t plan on pursuing a minor in psychology when he enrolled at VIU.
However, doing so turned out to be one of the highlights of his post-secondary career. In his third and fourth year, the Bachelor of Business Administration graduate decided to take “a few” psychology courses as electives.
“I really enjoyed the course materials, enough so that in my final three semesters I enrolled almost exclusively in psychology classes to fulfill my required BBA electives while also completing a minor in psychology,” he says.
He didn’t just complete his major and minor though, he excelled. Spencer is this year’s recipient of VIU’s Governor General’s Academic Silver Medal, which is awarded annually to the student graduating with the highest academic standing in a bachelor’s degree.
We caught up with Spencer to get his thoughts on the award, the program and his time at VIU.
What drew you to pursue your post-secondary education at VIU?
The two main factors that led me to pursue my education at VIU were location and atmosphere. The home I grew up in was only 20 minutes away from VIU by car, so I did not have to move away to go to school, which was very convenient, and the small class sizes provided a more comfortable learning environment that I preferred over the sardine-packed lecture halls at many larger universities.
What does receiving this award and recognition mean to you?
Receiving this award was a surprise to me, as I didn't even know the award existed before I received an email about it from VIU. I was never pursuing the award, but I always strived to excel in all of my classes throughout university (and high school) for no other reason than to satisfy the standards I set for myself. Therefore, receiving this award is a nice recognition for the hard work and long hours I have put into my studies, but it does not change how I view myself or my educational pursuits.
Were there any particular challenges you faced during your studies or otherwise, and how did you overcome them?
One challenge I faced during my studies at VIU on a continuous basis was finding a parking spot on campus. I overcame this challenge by getting really good at running up and down the stairs to get to classes on time. This is more of a joke than a serious challenge, but it is probably something many other students at VIU can relate to.
What’s next for you, education or career-wise, or both?
Since I finished my schooling at VIU I have moved to Alberta and am now running my own personal training/health and fitness business called "Bodyconnect". Right now the business primarily revolves around personal training, but as I continue to gain more credentials from courses in other fields of health and fitness (such as nutrition, sports performance, and advanced strength and conditioning) I hope to expand the business into an overall health, performance, and wellness studio.
How do feel your time at VIU helped in your path towards achieving this goal?
In my time at VIU I met several people from many different areas all over the world, and one thing I gathered from them all was that as beautiful as Vancouver Island is, there is a big world out there with many amazing opportunities outside of our nice little island. From my interactions with exchange students and professors from different countries or provinces, I realized that I didn't want to live my entire life on the island, and this led me to take a chance moving to another province to start the next chapter of my life; living in a new town, making new connections, and creating a new business.
What was the highlight of your time at VIU, and what has been the biggest takeaway?
Apart from graduation and completing my degree so that I could move on to the next chapter of my life, the highlight of my time at VIU was in my third and fourth years when I decided to take a few psychology classes as electives. I did not plan to complete a minor in psychology when I took my first psychology class, but I really enjoyed the course materials, enough so that in my final three semesters I enrolled almost exclusively in psychology classes to fulfill my required BBA electives while also completing a minor in psychology.
The biggest takeaway that I got from VIU came from something I learned about myself (and people in general) in the psychology classes, and that is that everyone has problems and setbacks and struggles in their lives that make life seem unfair in many ways, but at the end of the day nobody is able to solve your problems but you--if you truly want to change something about your current self or life to become a better person or live a different life, you have to take responsibility for your own problems, make sacrifices in your life in areas that may be comfort zones (i.e. sacrifice some things you enjoy now so you can obtain the things you want in the future), and be willing to actually change as a person. People are creatures of habit, and change from current habits and behaviours does not come naturally--change is actually very difficult to create. But change is necessary to become that better person or to live that better life, because you cannot continue to think and behave the way you currently do and expect to become a different person living a different life in the future.
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