Haylee Seiter and Torrye McKenzie are UNBC's Class of 2016 Valedictorians.

During her four years at UNBC, Torrye McKenzie discovered her true passion for food advocacy work.

Haylee Seiter enjoyed the distinctive sense of community at UNBC that allowed her to succeed as an undergraduate student at UNBC.

They have both been selected as the 2016 UNBC valedictorians.

McKenzie and Seiter will each give a brief speech during the Prince George convocation celebrations on May 27 at the Charles Jago Northern Sport Centre. Their presentations are intended to signify a moment of celebration and respect to all those who have made the journey through classes, papers, projects and exams to the final culmination of all that hard work, their degree.

McKenzie is originally from Quesnel and will be graduating with a Bachelor of Health Sciences in Biomedical Studies.

She chose UNBC since it was close to home and to her family. She also enjoys being outdoors and UNBC’s campus is surrounded by beautiful lakes and forests. She was drawn to the idea of mid-day trail runs between classes.

While attending the university, she had the opportunity to be involved in so many extracurricular events and activities that she was able to explore other aspects of her identity -- that until this point she was unaware of.

She’s a supporter for sustainable food procurement and after volunteering and working with UNBC’s sustainability team, she discovered her true passion. She loves food advocacy work – from food waste management and community nutrition to food security and equitable food production. However, without attending UNBC, Canada’s Green University, she would have never been exposed to these issues.

“UNBC gave me a leading academic institute to develop my intellectual capabilities as well as a home which motivated and supported me to explore and nurture my own passions,” McKenzie said.

During her four years at UNBC she enjoyed the people she encountered the most from her fellow classmates to her professors and the UNBC staff. Every time she walked through the hallways she was guaranteed to see a familiar face – which always made the anxious pre-midterm walk or sleep-deprived coffee break a little brighter.

McKenzie has accepted a job with the Canadian Fair Trade Network, a non-profit organization in Vancouver. She will be the National Fair Trade School program co-ordinator.

McKenzie will speak at the College of Arts, Social and Health Sciences Convocation at 9:30 a.m.

Seiter is from Prince George. She will be graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing.

She chose to attend UNBC since it allowed her to stay close to home and her family, as she wasn’t quite ready to venture out on her own yet. In addition, her mom is a UNBC alumna who earned both her Bachelor of Arts (English) and Bachelor of Education degrees at the university which may have influenced her decision.

In her final year at UNBC, she helped guide UNBC’s JDC West academic marketing team to a first-place finish at the JDC West competition in Saskatoon in January 2016. The three-person team was up against the marketing teams from 11 other western Canadian universities. The whole experience of practicing marketing business case studies on a weekly basis and making strategic recommendations to a panel of three judges during a 20-minute presentation in Saskatoon left a profound impact on her. She’s confident it will have a positive impact on her career.

Seiter also spent two semesters from September 2014 to April 2015 in France on an academic exchange where she studied at the Paris School of Business. She was the only Canadian in the 99 per cent international class setting with classmates from around the world.

“What I absolutely enjoy about UNBC is the distinctive sense of community,” said Seiter. “It doesn’t matter what major or program you are in, there is a place for everyone. It took me living 7,000 km away to realize just how incredible that is. Not only is our campus absolutely beautiful, but we have the most amazing approachable professors and staff. They made me believe anything is possible.” 

Seiter would love to work for a big marketing agency that works with a variety of different clients.

Seiter will speak at the College of Science and Management Convocation at 2:30 p.m.

Valedictorians are selected by a committee consisting of two undergraduate student representatives, two graduate student representatives, and one alumni representative.