Pursuing their Interests, with Determination and a Love for Learning

At UTS, every day holds the possibility of discovery. The diverse talents and sometimes esoteric interests of students run deep, from the arts to sciences to technology to athletics and beyond. In their futures after UTS, any one of these interests could take on a life of its own and become a calling. The latest issue of The Root, the UTS alumni magazine, shares stories about how our alumni boldly forge their own paths. The issue celebrates the careers and communities of 12 alumni making their mark in culinary and vinicultural arts and sciences, as well as restaurateurs, brewmasters and cider makers.

One alum winemaker was integral to building a wine region. Another runs a cidery and farm as a movement in regeneration and a commitment to mitigating climate change. Some created run much-loved neighborhood restaurants that have profound impacts on their local communities – one has been in operation for nearly four decades!

Their success came from learning what matters to them and pursuing their interests, coupled with a love of learning and dogged determination. Sometimes it wasn’t the path they expected or felt was expected of them. Many thought they would pursue academic or legal careers and some did, before pivoting to a different career. Others had never excelled at chemistry, until it became integral to their work and then it all made sense.  

This issue of The Root shows that extraordinary things happen in the lives of our alumni when they pursue the path that feels right for them. I invite you to read their stories and see how they make sustenance into a fine art, sustainability into a bottom line, and reinvent historic traditions of wine, beer and cider making for the modern age.