Image via David Williams.
David Williams (BA History Major, AMNE Minor 2023) is a man of second and third rodeos, if rodeos were UBC convocations. David first graduated from UBC with a Bachelor of Arts in Commerce in May 1978. When he turned 65, five years after retiring from a career in the investment industry, he reactivated his student status and dove into courses offered by UBC History.
“My wife and I took a vacation in Türkiye, and I realized that Ottoman was something more than a foot stool. I was an ignorant tourist and decided if I was going to travel to another part of the world, I should learn something about it before getting on a plane,” he reasoned.
Inspired by his plans to visit a safari in Kruger National Park, David decided to enroll in some courses to learn more about the history of Africa. This was how he came across HIST 313: History of Africa – Imperialism to Independence, taught by UBC History faculty Dr. David Morton. “I enjoyed Dr. Morton’s course so thoroughly that I ended up taking two more of his classes,” he says. Then, before he knew it, David had worked his way through a second BA, with a major in History and a minor in Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies (AMNE).
For David, walking across the Chan Centre stage in May 2023 was the fruit of academic achievement sweetened by a sense of redemption. “This second degree represented a personal do-over from my Commerce experience and the opportunity to attend convocation, which I skipped last century.”
Days after convocation, he enrolled in more Faculty of Arts courses with the goal of working towards another BA in Canadian Studies and AMNE. UBC waives tuition and student fees for seniors over the age of 65. While he appreciates the perks of the senior discount, David makes it clear that it is important to him to be seen paying it forward: he donates the equivalent of his annual tuition directly to the departments that offer the courses he takes. In Fall 2024, he made a donation to UBC History’s Canadian History Graduate Student Research Travel Fund while taking Dr. Michel Ducharme’s HIST 235: Inventing Canada – Moments that Matter. Over the past few years, he has cumulatively made $10,000 in donations to the fund.
“This is a very generous program offered by the university, and I am continually surprised that my peers have not flooded campus. I am financially able to pay the tuition, and I’d much rather assist a graduate student in the History department that’s providing me education to attend a conference than have the university use the funds to fill a pothole or fix a toilet,” he half-jokes.
David says what he enjoys most about coming back to UBC, second to attending lectures given by award-winning UBC Arts faculty, is being able to engage with early-20-something-year-olds as peers. “I have made friends and acquaintances with those that would otherwise not give me the time of day,” he says, “and only taking three courses a term leaves time for golf, pickleball, grandchildren, travel, and volunteer work.”
“Don’t only take courses that are of personal interest,” he advises other life-long learners. “Take those that are taught by exceptional professors.”
