Across the stage, thousands of journeys converge at UBC

“This week and next, the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts will be taken over by celebration as years of late nights, difficult choices and quiet determination culminate in a walk across a stage. This year, 10,665 UBC Vancouver graduates are expected to take that walk, across 28 ceremonies over seven days between May 20 and 28. Another 2,117 students will graduate from UBC Okanagan in early June. The class of 2026 ranges in age from 18 to 73, and they have come to UBC from countries all around the world. When the last ceremony closes, UBC’s total alumni community will reach 436,000. Among this year’s graduates are six whose paths to the stage were shaped by resilience, curiosity and a drive to leave things better than they found them: Jocelyn Chu, Dr. Jenny Muñoz, Katja Nell, Akuol Riak, Dr. Nivan Sharma and Hanna Sobkowich. Jocelyn Chu Jocelyn Chu, BA, faculty of arts Jocelyn Chu’s first year at UBC was a difficult one, and the mental health struggles she encountered inspired her to turn outward. Studying sociology and family studies, she became a crisis responder with Kids Help Phone and worked alongside the Binners’ Project in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside through UBC’s Urban Ethnographic Field School. She volunteers with WISH Drop-In Centre Society and supports Cantonese-speaking seniors at S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Her honours thesis examined how migration and political instability reshape family bonds, drawing on her own parents’ journey from Hong Kong—weaving the personal into the scholarly. Read more . Dr. Jenny Muñoz Dr. Jenny Muñoz, PhD, faculty of science Growing up spending time on her family’s farm amid Colombia’s astonishing biodiversity, Jenny Muñoz found her calling among birds rather than test tubes. A chance encounter surveying an endangered grackle redirected her from immunology to a life of tropical field biology, carrying her from the Amazon and Andes to UBC. Now completing her PhD in Zoology, Dr. Muńoz blends rigorous science with hard-won resilience, navigating new languages, countries and setbacks. Like the bird communities she studies, her journey shows how connection and collaboration foster survival and success. Read more . Katja Nell Katja Nell, MSc, faculty of science At 15, Katja Nell became one of the youngest students ever admitted to UBC. Cue a decidedly non-linear path to graduation as she explored ways to combine her love of chemistry, biology, mathematics and physics, all while pursuing various hobbies and working part-time jobs. Now graduating with an MSc in physics, Nell is off to Sydney where she’ll be like an ethical Frankenstein, simulating lightning strikes in prebiotic Earth environments to study the chemical origins of life. She emphasizes it’s important to stop and smell the roses. “We have one life, and it’s precious.” Read more . Akuol Riak Akuol Riak, BA, faculty of arts Akuol Riak arrived at UBC as a varsity track and field athlete, her identity shaped by competition and sport. Recurring injuries cut that chapter short, so she channelled her drive into campus life instead, taking on leadership roles with the Arts Undergraduate Society, Jack.org, Agora Café and other organizations, while presenting her sociology research at undergraduate conferences. A teaching internship in Kenya with AIESEC, where she worked in a one-room school with students from low-income backgrounds, deepened her commitment to education, equity and inclusion. This fall, Riak heads to the University of Toronto to begin a master’s degree in teaching—the next step toward her goal of teaching internationally. Read more . Dr. Nivan Sharma Dr. Nivan Sharma, MD, faculty of medicine At 16, Nivan Sharma was diagnosed with bone cancer in his tibia. A specialized team of surgeons and oncologists successfully treated his cancer—and in doing so, introduced Sharma to the kind of team-based care that would change the course of his life. Now a graduating UBC MD student, Dr. Sharma has come full circle to train with UBC clinical faculty involved in his cancer treatment and recovery, even assisting in the very procedure he once underwent as a patient. He plans to return to his hometown of Prince Rupert to practice rural family medicine with a specialization in oncology, bringing cancer care closer to home for patients who would otherwise travel long distances for treatment. Read more . Hanna Sobkowich Hanna Sobkowich, BSFS Honours, faculty of forestry and environmental stewardship Hanna Sobkowich arrived at UBC almost by accident—recruited to the track team by a chance phone call, she enrolled in Forest Sciences on a whim. Five years later, she is graduating as the UBC record holder in the 100, 200, and 400 metres, and the author of an honours thesis on wood bison migration under climate change, the findings of which may challenge published literature. In the lab, she worked across two research groups, modelling species distributions and supporting DNA extraction work. Her next step is a master’s degree, with her sights set eventually on a professorship—and, in the meantime, on making the Canadian national championships. Read more . These are just a few of the exceptional scholars graduating this spring from UBC Vancouver and UBC Okanagan. Learn about more outstanding graduates by following @universityofbc and @ubcokanagan on Instagram.

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