First and foremost, the tagline for this site is “thoughts, travel, and tea.” Yes, I like the Oxford Comma. Thoughts relates to the (many) posts that are mostly in my drafts, waiting to be fleshed out and posted. Travel refers to, well, travel. It’s culturally enriching, educational, and yes, fun. Tea refers to my love of tea – black, green, fruity – whatever!

I’m currently finishing up my undergraduate studies at the University of Saskatchewan, hoping to graduate with a Bachelor of Commerce, with a major in Operations (Supply Chain) Management.

While I love to learn about business, and think about it – I know a lot of inconsequential facts about a lot of companies, for example – my interests have moved more into global affairs, specifically around climate change risk on supply chains. To that end, at least in my formal studies, I have chosen to add to my degree in by studying abroad, pursuing some additional certificate programs, and participating in career-related offerings.

Following my study abroad course, I traveled independently to 8 other countries (UK, Denmark, The Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, UAE, France), to learn a bit more about other cultures and to feed the travel bug.

While studying abroad and traveling is a great experience, I wanted a bit more formal international study within my degree. To that end, I’ve added my school’s Advanced Global Business Stream (now an International Business minor) to my transcript. The AGBS requires specific course work, workshops put on by the Forum for International Trade Training, and other requirements.

To get a taste for the corporate life, I worked at Husky Energy (now a part of Cenovus) in 2020 for my co-operative education program as a part of my B.Comm. The people and the experience was great overall – I learned a lot about myself, and the world of strategic sourcing, procurement & logistics. However, the most important thing I recognized was my inability to fight against the cognitive dissonance that presented itself in that I was working for an oil company, which, while I recognize the current importance to the world economy, did not jive with my prescriptions of what the future should be.

As the introduction to this page specified, my studies have moved beyond business – my current informal, independent studies, and what I hope to be future formal studies will focus on the geopolitical aspects surrounding climate change risk within supply chains. To that end, I’ve shifted a bit of my undergrad coursework to economics, political and international studies, and am additionally pursuing the Global Studies Certificate through the USask Political Studies Department, which focuses on an interdisciplinary approach to the forces shaping our world, analyzing past and present events to better understand the future.

In 2021, while taking my full course load in the winter semester, I additionally completed USask’s Economics Career Internship through the economics department. While not a typical fit for business students, it was a great learning experience that had me working with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Trade and Export Development. Through an independent research paper, I analyzed and evaluated the opportunities, risks, along with the general economic, social, and environmental factors surrounding the development of a rare earths industry in the province (and country). This experience gave me the opportunity to branch more into supply chain risk, geopolitical factors, and present recommendations to a government agency in a concise, thoroughly researched manner.

While I have almost completed my undergraduate degree, some days I feel like Van Wilder; am I ever going to be done this degree?

To elaborate, I only have a semester of coursework left to fulfill the requirements for my degree; however, because of my experience with the Economics Internship and my shifting interests, I felt a need to complete an Honours Project to more explore topics of interest to me. I wrote it on how Saskatchewan firms are mitigating for and adapting to the possible impacts of climate change in their supply chains.

My goal, at the moment, is to finish my undergrad at USask, and attend a graduate program in international/global security, with a focus on climate change, climate risk, energy and environment, and all the fun stuff (surveillance, terrorism, supply chains, etc.) – since all of the above factors are interdependent. (Update – heading to Carleton University for their Infrastructure Protection and International Security program.)

For now, I get the privilege(?) of living through one of the world’s most pressing public health crises, while trying to find some time to read, spend time with family, and watch my brother play hockey.