Finding Your Niche: Building a Career Through an Exploratory Approach

About

Name	Abdo Souraya
Title	Environmental Foods Educator
Company	Elements Society
Grad year	2020
Program	Global Resource Systems

Driven by a desire to address complex and interconnected food system challenges, Abdo Souraya completed his Bachelor of Science in Global Resource Systems at UBC in 2020. Abdo works as an Environmental Foods Educator with Elements Society. While he did not envision becoming an educator during his undergrad, he deeply enjoys covering topics in environmental food with youth. As a student in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems, he intentionally took an exploratory approach to his early career, remaining flexible while seeking opportunities to apply his skills in meaningful ways. By getting involved in a wide range of extracurricular experiences, Abdo built professional confidence and a resume that supported a smooth transition from university into the workforce.

Reflecting on his journey, Abdo encourages students not to feel pressured to have everything figured out after graduation. Emphasizing the importance of regular reflection on strengths, challenges, and work preferences, in this alumni profile, he highlights the versatility of his Global Resource Systems degree, which allowed him to build a flexible foundation for a service-oriented career.

What advice would you give to a high school student considering your program in LFS?

If you are in high school and contemplating LFS, I say GO FOR IT! LFS is SUCH a cool faculty and a fantastic way to get a relevant science degree without getting lost in the larger science faculty. LFS has such a great, interdisciplinary community vibe and there are so many interesting and crucial challenges in the food system right now – they need your brilliant insights! The program offerings are varied – I landed in GRS, where I was able to combine social sciences with natural sciences and carve out a uniquely valuable niche for myself.

When you were a student, what did you think you wanted your career to be or look like? Does this still reflect your wants or needs?  

As a student, I was really concerned by the multiple wicked problems in food systems. I only knew that I wanted to use my skills to affect change. I was flexible with how that would look like and took an exploratory approach to my early career. Early career is a great time to get to know your strengths and preferences. Although I didn’t expect to be an educator, I do love it, and have gained a lot of new skills in the role. 

What advice do you have for early career/graduating individuals who want to take an exploratory approach to their careers to get to know their strengths, preferences, and weaknesses in the workplace?

I think not having it all figured out the moment after you walk the stage is actually great – it opens you up to opportunities you may not have been able to plan. My advice for your early career is to reflect on how things are going. What do my colleagues, friends or peers notice are my standout skills? What do I really love about the roles I’ve taken on? What are some things I find challenging? Try to go beyond just what you hope to get out of your career, and instead notice how you naturally show up in different types of work environments. This, for me, was the key to progressing from my more childhood idealistic ideas of my future career to understanding where and how I excel.

What do you like about your current job and what do you find challenging?

As an environmental foods educator, I seriously love what I get to teach! It feels meaningful and important. It has a creative element and can be seriously fun. I also love that I get to work with such a wide variety of youth, and get to learn how to connect and relate to learners in varied psycho-social settings. One of the things that can be challenging is that I sometimes wonder if some of my best skills are being underserved in my current role! I also forayed into research assistantships before this role, and found myself to be a voracious researcher. While I have lots of fun teaching, I don’t know that I could consider myself a voracious teacher in quite the same way. A part of job satisfaction for me is using my natural aptitudes to serve. I enjoy my role and feel confident in it, but also acknowledge that managing large groups for long hours tends to get the better of my introverted nature.

When it comes to your future, what are you most excited about? 

I am looking forward to more opportunities to be of service to people and/or planet! I also really loved school and have more recently been revisiting the idea of graduate studies. 

Considering your undergraduate years, was there anything you did or experienced that has helped you to set yourself apart from your peers? 

Coming to a big school like UBC, there are SO MANY opportunities to get involved in cool and amazing things. Some may be unpaid, but I highly suggest you take full advantage of the extra-curricular opportunities on campus. Getting involved gave me such a rich university experience, professional confidence, and dare I say an impressive resume walking off stage to ease the transition into professional life. I was lucky that my early undergrad unpaid experiences bloomed into more technical, degree specific experiences that really bolstered my resume. If you are early in your undergraduate studies, I highly encourage you to start to look for experiences available to students, and investigate what steps you can take in your junior years to secure exciting opportunities in your senior years.

From your experience, what has been the value of having an LFS degree? 

LFS degrees are seriously malleable! Although I always sort of saw myself working in the community, I’ve been able to realize that I could pivot into so many different versions of that (especially with a GRS degree). While specialization carries immense value too, having so much range provides me with comfort and excitement against the backdrop of a rapidly changing job market.