For Corey Buchan, returning to school in his 30s meant taking a chance on a future he had not always imagined for himself. Donor support helped provide the confidence and financial stability to take that chance.
At the BCIT Foundation’s annual Celebration of Impact, Corey shared how an unconventional path from the trades to technology led him back to BCIT, and how a donor-funded award helped him make the most of that opportunity.
Finding a new path
Corey’s journey to technology was anything but linear. Before entering BCIT’s Computer Systems Technology program, he worked in lumber mills and trained as a welder and later moved into quality assurance at Electronic Arts. Along the way, he developed a practical instinct for understanding how things work and solving problems.
Those skills found a new direction in technology in the Computer Systems Technology program. A lifelong passion for video games had sparked his curiosity about the field, but his experience at Electronic Arts convinced him he wanted to go further. Having previously completed BCIT’s Welder Foundation program, Corey knew that BCIT’s applied approach suited the way learned.
“I wanted something where I could build things,” Corey says.
Support when it mattered
During his studies, Corey received the Étienne de Kerckhove Memorial Award. With Corey relying on student loans while his partner completed a PhD, the award provided something that can be difficult to quantify but invaluable to a student: breathing room.
“It gave me an emergency cushion,” Corey explains. “It took a lot of stress away.”
That financial security allowed Corey to devote more time and energy to his education, leadership activities, and collaborative projects instead of worrying about unexpected expenses. The award also carried another message: someone believed his work and potential were worth investing in.
One award, a wider ripple effect
Corey became a student representative throughout all four terms of his program, and he looked for ways to bring his classmates together. In his third term, he helped mobilize approximately 22 students around an ambitious project called Turn the Tides.
The team created an interactive simulation using real-world data to explore how rising sea levels could affect Greater Vancouver and how different mitigation strategies could change those outcomes.
Corey also put part of his award directly back into the project. He upgraded an older computer to serve as the team’s server and purchased collaborative software that allowed students to work with tools similar to those used in professional technology environments.
In that way, one student award supported learning opportunities for an entire team.
Students gained experience in programming, research, project management, collaboration and problem-solving while applying their skills to a real-world challenge.
From student opportunity to wider impact
Corey’s experience reflects a message shared by BCIT President Jeff Zabudsky at Celebration of Impact: investing in students builds more than individual opportunity. It helps develop the skills, ideas, and leadership British Columbia will rely on in the years ahead.
Corey’s journey shows what that can look like in practice. Donor support helped one student return to school, develop new technical skills and discover confidence in his abilities. Corey then used that opportunity to lead, collaborate and create learning opportunities for others.
Returning to school in his 30s was not a decision he took lightly. He had nearly failed high school and had never considered himself particularly academic.
Succeeding at BCIT began to change that perception.
Receiving a donor-funded award reinforced it.
The recognition told Corey that his hard work mattered and that others saw potential in what he was building.
Building what comes next
Today, Corey is continuing his education through a bachelor’s degree, building on the technical skills, leadership experience and confidence he developed at BCIT. His goal is to return to the technology sector and continue solving complex problems through meaningful work.
Corey arrived at BCIT with experience working with his hands and a desire to learn how to build things in a different way. He leaves with something more: the knowledge that he belongs in technology and has something valuable to contribute.
A donor-funded award helped give Corey the stability to focus on his education. What he did with that opportunity multiplied its impact across his classmates, his projects and the future he is now building.
That is the ripple effect in investing in a BCIT student.