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Cycling trip turns into degree for Swiss woman

University College of the Fraser Valley Press Release

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Andrea Huelsmann

July 10, 2003 - When Andrea Huelsmann came to Canada in 1998, she had no idea she would end up studying Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University College of the Fraser Valley, let alone winning the university's highest academic award, the Governor General's Silver medal.

Huelsmann had come to Canada on a visitor's visa to cycle in Northern B.C. and learn a little English. The idea of going to university had crossed her mind, but Huelsmann says she didn't dare to go further than "looking at the pictures of the schools and dreaming about the programs."

That all changed when her visa expired.

"I only had two choices: either to leave the country or go to college. I did not want to stay in Vancouver and could not have afforded it. I read that UCFV would have a good crim program. I went there, and somehow just liked the campus and its size. I went to the international office, and suddenly I had signed up!"

There was no looking back after that for Huelsmann, a woman in her thirties who is accustomed to taking on new challenges and adapting to new roles.

"I left school when I was 14 and did an apprenticeship in office work and organization for three years. Then I worked in restaurants, did assembly work; I was a telephonist, a bank cashier, and a helper in a bakery. All those jobs I only worked for a few months. The goal was to get different experiences. After those jobs, I worked for almost two years for a crown attorney as a secretary. I started the police academy in 1991 and left after seven years of service."

It was her background with the police force and justice department in Switzerland that led her to choose criminology. But despite her success in the program - Huelsmann has a grade point average of 4.15 - she says it wasn't easy, especially at the beginning.

"The whole first year was a nightmare, and an everyday struggle. Not only did I struggle with the language, I also had left school more then 15 years ago. I had no concepts of learning, studying, reading a textbook, writing a paper, even the functions and use of a library.

"Too, I was thrown into a school system that I had no clue about. Where do I sit, how do I talk to the teacher, where do I have to sign up? Since I did not know anybody and am rather shy, I had to figure out the roles and rules through experience and observing every single act. This takes a lot of energy," she says.

Huelsmann says it was always her dream to go back to school, but one that she doubted she would achieve. "I did not choose the easy way. To live my dream, I gave up my friends, my country, a job I loved, security, safety, and a good salary. Yet I do not regret any single minute," she says.

"What I was able to experience and how much I have grown over the last four or five years is almost scary. I also believe that all this was only possible because of the support I got from some teachers at the university. Some have given me incredible opportunities and support because they believed in me and my abilities," she says.

Huelsmann's instructors at UCFV did not hesitate to recommend her for recognition. "We concur that she is, by far, the best student either of us have had the pleasure of working with in our nearly 10 years of teaching at UCFV," wrote Elizabeth Dennis of the department of Social Cultural and Media Studies and Katherine Watson of the Social, Cultural and Media Studies/Criminal Justice department in their nomination letter. "Her research skills, combined with her superior achievements in the study of sociological thought, reflect her boundless intellectual curiosity and her unwavering commitment to academic excellence."

Huelsmann returned to Switzerland this spring after finishing exams, and is working in the capital city Bern. Huelsmann is part of the management team organizing the recent relocation of the offices of the attorney general. "This goes from security issues to computer programs, statistics, education, office structure, controlling, and more," she says. "It is a very interesting job, and I realize how much I can profit from my previous work experience and how much schooling has brought together so many aspects of those experiences."

But Huelsmann won't be staying in Switzerland for long.

"What I have learnt over the last four years is not to make any plans about the future any more. How much schooling has changed my life, the way I see the world, think, work, and be is incredible. What is now possible would have never have been possible four years ago. Too, my interests have changed so much. The next thing I will do is going to grad school in Toronto. After that I will see where I will go and what I will do."

Knowing Huelsmann, who has been accepted to the MA program in the Centre for Criminology at the University of Toronto, she will go far and do well.

Modified on April 23, 2009

Cycling trip turns into degree for Swiss woman

University College of the Fraser Valley Press Release

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