Image via Georgia Twiss.
Georgia Twiss (she/her) graduated from UBC History with a Master of Arts in 2022. She now works as the Reference Historian for the Museum & Archives of North Vancouver (MONOVA), where she helps to preserve and tell the stories of the people of North Vancouver. When she’s not busy digging through the archives, she is an avid sports fan, a voracious reader, and an aspiring mountaineer.
In this alumna Q&A, Georgia shares with us her journey from student to working historian, and some valuable lessons she’s learned along the way. Read on to find out more about Georgia’s journey.
What are you doing with your life now, and what has your journey been like, getting here?
Are there any memories from your time as a student at UBC History that have stuck with you until now?
My favourite part of grad school was being a TA. I was lucky to be mentored by Dr. Tamara Myers, and I had the most amazing students who inspired me with their work. I have very fond memories of listening to 1960s music with my students as we built a visual timeline of Vietnam War primary sources in Dr. Myer’s HIST 418: The 1960s in Global Perspective. What a joy!
What is the most valuable lesson you learned during your time with UBC History?
The most valuable lesson I learned during my time with UBC history is to write down your citations immediately so that you aren’t frantically flipping through stacks of books to find a random quote that you pulled from somewhere and have no memory of where it came from.
What is the most valuable lesson you learned since your time with UBC History?
The most valuable lesson that I have learned since my time with UBC history is that everything happens for a reason. Due to COVID delaying my thesis research, I had to decline acceptance into the UBC iSchool program in 2021. When I reapplied the following year, I was not accepted again. At the time that was devastating, but because I didn’t get in, I was able to take some time away from academia and to accept a small role at MONOVA that allowed me to get my foot in the door. Fast forward a year and I landed a full-time dream job, where I get to work in a Museum & Archives in my own community and have an official title which contains the word “historian”. I would have never had this opportunity if I had followed my original plan, so I often reflect on how lucky I was to be rejected from the iSchool that second time around, which seems strange but is true!
