Winding Roads: Alice Chu’s journey toward a fulfilling career
Alice Chu is accustomed to winding roads. Now an attorney and an entrepreneur who franchises bakehouse Hazukido throughout Canada, Alice’s experience studying at the University of Waterloo provided a foundation for the pursuit of her interests.
Alice, who attained a Bachelor of Arts and Business in Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) in 2018, recalled starting her degree as an Economics major. As her interest in Economics waned, she decided to take several courses from other programs. While in PACS courses, she “felt like the instructors and the professors were invested in their cohort and in their class.” Alice sought community during her time as an undergraduate student, and intimate class sizes were an important aspect of her undergraduate experience. The class sizes, alongside the program being aligned with her skillset, later motivated her to declare a PACS major.
She found the PACS program provided solid ground for approaching co-op jobs and opportunities during her undergraduate degree: “I think through learning and honing in on skill sets during our academic semesters and then transitioning to the workforce, they were building blocks. As I matured, as each co-op placement came, I felt more confident in my communication skills and being able to advocate for myself,” Alice said. Her classroom experiences helped her understand how to transform conflicts at work as they arise, and how to mitigate future conflict-related challenges. By strengthening her ability to communicate, Alice was able to navigate building relationships at her co-ops and beyond.
Alice appreciated courses that offered new perspectives and outlooks on the world. Courses like PACS 327: Cultural Approaches to Conflict Resolution, taught by Professor Nathan Funk, was one favourite.
“What I like about PACS is that you have room in an academic and supervised environment to explore,” Alice noted. “We're still learning different things and building our skill set, but you also had the breathing room to really explore things that interested you that are related to the world.”
Her interest in different cultures and a world outside of Canada inspired Alice to participate in the university’s international exchange program in Singapore. Since then, she has frequented Singapore at least once a year. That exchange also led Alice to the realization that risk-taking is an integral part of navigating life choices. For Alice, “having the foresight of understanding that there will never be a time or a moment in your life where you relive this moment,” allowed her to pursue her goals with a spontaneous spirit. Alice’s zeal for travelling ultimately influenced her to pursue law school at Bond University in Australia.
While Alice’s academic career gave her a starting point in terms of how to communicate and understand individuals, her years in entrepreneurship strengthened this skill set. Through experience she found that, while it is not possible to rein in everyone in times of chaos or conflict, the human-to-human dynamic and learning how people communicate has been a fulfilling part of her journey. Entrepreneurship has allowed Alice to enhance her communication and soft skills first discovered in the PACS program.
Alice’s skillset subsequently supported her professional career in family and estate law. While articling, Alice gravitated toward family and estate and had an “inkling of how people should communicate” based on her prior course work. "Law is easier to navigate based on my skill set and all the things I have acquired from my undergraduate degree and from my life experience," Alice shared.
Reflecting on her time as a PACS undergraduate, Alice believes that “in order to have a fruitful life - a purposeful life - you have to have certain things that you anchor towards when there is conflict - when there is hardship.” Holding her personal values of integrity, empathy and kindness high, Alice finds staying true to one’s value system can support students in their post-secondary career.
Alice’s wish is for “students, especially young students, and also women, to know that so long as you have confidence in yourself, and you believe in yourself, it doesn't really matter what kind of winding road you go on, as long you feel that it's fulfilling and you're living true to who you are.”
By: Samira Abdillahi