Rayka Kumru, BA’12

Rayka Kumru, BA’12

Current Role: Sexologist and Sexual Health Educator

What would you tell your graduating self?

Take a deep breath. Look around you. You are in the world's most beautiful city! Take it all in because in the end, it is all going to be okay.

If you weren’t in your current job field, what would you be doing?

I would probably be a zoologist working with whales and bears.

What was your ‘aha’ moment?"

My first year at UBC as an international student, I was scrolling through the course list to find something interesting to pursue. I discovered UBC offered courses in Critical Studies in Sexuality. Taking that one course with Janice Stewart was one of the many "aha" moments I had on the road leading to my career.

What is your best memory from your time at UBC?

I could not reduce it to only one single memory but the feeling of belonging is something that will always be only mind when I think of UBC. Whether it was my group of friends (still very close despite the oceans in between), the courses I was taking, or volunteering and the sense of community it provided me with.

What did you think you would be doing when you started university?

I went to UBC to study political science. I wanted to be a lawyer or to work in human rights activism. Although not totally irrelevant, never would I have imagined in a million years that I would end up becoming a sexologist.