Kirkland has pursued a dual BKin and Masters of Management degree and will graduate from Kinesiology this spring with a BKin in the interdisciplinary stream. She will continue her studies in June to complete her Masters of Management degree with the UBC Sauder School of Business. Once she has finished her Masters degree, Kirkland plans on applying to graduate schools to explore teaching and nursing.
Kirkland has been an active member of the UBC Cheerleading team for the duration of her undergraduate degree. “We won National and International titles, and even qualified for a bid to Worlds this past year, but were unable to attend due to COVID.” She currently volunteers in the UBC Sexual Health Research lab at VGH. “I have volunteered there for the past school year, and plan to continue for as long as I am in BC. I am working on data cleaning and analyzing qualitative data from one of our past trial studies, in order to examine the feasibility of the larger eSense study.”
Kirkland was also active in the KIN community, and participated as a mentee in KIN’s Mentorship Program and served as a Senior Orientation Leader, where she worked closely with KIN’s past Student Engagement Coordinator, Elise Le Brun. “I had the opportunity to work directly with Elise on several projects, and I am so thankful that I did. She really made a difference in my life at UBC.” Of her time in KIN, Kirkland reflects, “Being a part of UBC KIN really makes you realize that there are so many other people who want to help each other succeed, and this is a lesson that I will carry with me beyond finishing my degree.”
When asked about her future goals, Kirkland says “Personally, my main goal is to make a difference, whether that’s on a small or larger scale. I want to be able to wake up in the morning knowing that the work I do is meaningful, and is changing the lives of those around me.”
