đź“Ś Alumni Spotlight: Vivian Chan
Vivian is a psychology assessment and workplace researcher, lecturer at the University of Toronto, and best of all, a proud mother to a 9 month-old!
She is passionate about making (“some”) sense of messy data and transforming it into stories that help others learn about themselves and make impactful decisions.
In her spare time, Vivian enjoys running, reading non-fiction books, and searching up the next vegan recipe to try. She also is deeply concerned with environmental sustainability and tries her best to live in a way that is less harmful to the environment.
What was your time in Vision Youth like?
I joined Vision Youth in 2002. To be honest, I joined because my older brother, who also joined Vision Youth, encouraged me to join. Somehow his words carried more weight than my parents’ encouragement.
My most memorable moment from the program was our Gold qualifying hike in Vancouver during the summer of 2005. The hike was super long — a four day hike on the mountains. Not only did we achieve a hard task as a team, we got to end our 3-year journey at Vision Youth with a sweaty yet memorable trip.
“Treasure and remember the relationships that you build, for these people really shape your character, and therefore they shape the things you think about, the words you say, and the actions you make.”
What valuable lessons did you learn from the program?
I remember we used to joke that the thing we should take away from the program is “to become visionary leaders”. It was a perfect textbook answer. Looking back, however, the most valuable lesson I took away from the program is to care wholeheartedly for those younger than me.
My teenage years were full of awkwardness and bad decisions. I can’t imagine how my counselors, even those who weren’t in my team, looked out for me, let alone a whole gang of teenagers like me.
I remember how of my counselors took me aside and tried to really understand how I was feeling when I felt uncomfortable in a new environment. I faced hard truths about my character and learnt what it meant to truly be a team player.
As you’ve grown in your personal and into your professional careers, how has Vision Youth had an impact on who you are today?
In addition to the lessons I mentioned, more tangibly, Vision Youth has helped me grow in my confidence to speak publicly and step up to take leadership responsibilities when needed. Vision Youth’s training taught me that beyond my natural tendencies, leadership abilities can be developed and you can apply them to callings that really need your stewardship and contribution.
“To me, leadership means being there to create opportunities for teams and individuals to thrive. This involves knowing the individual, their strengths and weaknesses.”
How are you involved in the community today? Why is community involvement important to you?
Nowadays, while I’m on my parental leave, I help translate journal reflection questions from Chinese to English. The intention of these questions is to help immigrant parents connect with their children in the journaling activity.
As for why community involvement is important to me, I would say that it is a privilege to be able to help and give back to the community, and it anchors me to not get too narrow-minded on things that don’t matter in the long run. For me, community involvement is intrinsically rewarding.