Having grown up in Cranbrook, the location, combined with small class sizes and lower costs, drew Michael Savarie to the College. It was the Bachelor of Business Administration: Sustainable Business Practices that brought him back.
Intending to enrol at the College in University Sciences as a Biology major, he realized after his first year that maybe it wasn’t for him. He was more interested in business.
After chatting with some instructors in the Business program, Michael changed his focus to Marketing. Completing his diploma, he then headed to Kamloops for his Bachelor of Communications at Thompson Rivers University but quickly realized the program and school were not the right fit for him. He returned to Cranbrook – and to the College.
A key factor in Michael’s desire to return to the College was the four-year Bachelor of Business Administration program’s focus on sustainability.
“Sustainability is something I always had an interest in and knowing the BBA had a focus on it and was one of the first programs in Canada to do so, made it a highly useful degree,” he said.
Having found his passion, Michael has thrived since completing his BBA. He spent time living and working in Europe, calling England, France, Norway, and Denmark all home until the desire to continue to learn about sustainability took over.
Since that time, Michael has completed a Master of Sustainable Design from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, led the sustainability for a material innovation and fashion start-up in Philadelphia called Hemp Black, managed the global circularity validation program for UL Solutions, and is now in the process of completing an executive MBA at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Georgia.
Back when Michael chose the College’s BBA program, he felt it would be a highly useful degree. That certainly proved to be true; it turned out to be an early building block toward his new career at Google!
Leading Google’s Cloud Data Center’s Circularity Zero Waste Program, Michael works with Google’s global data centres to make their operations more sustainable through eliminating waste and increasing sustainable materials and processes.
Though the hard work has been all his own, Michael feels the College helped him prepare for his Google career.
“The diverse group of people with whom I attended the College have really helped me work in a global business,” he said. “Attending a school where my fellow group members were from overseas allowed me to gain perspectives on how other parts of the world and cultures work and operate. Having this level of diversity during my time at the College has really helped me connect with my global teams over the past few years.”
The lessons Michael learned at College of the Rockies continue to stay with him, as he builds his career, and he encourages others to pursue their passions as well.
“The College is a great place to do your undergrad as it is affordable, and it really helps prepare you for the real world and further education. Larger university class sizes are too big to have access to the hands-on help that you get from the College’s faculty. Having completed my undergrad in business and now finishing my Executive MBA at one of the top 20 ranked programs in the US, I can assure you that what I learned at the College helped prepare me to be successful in my current studies and career.
“If you are passionate about something, go for it. When I started the BBA program it was a new degree, I believe I was one of the first 10 people to graduate from it. Fast forward to where I am now, and I’ve been able to apply my learning about sustainable business practices to my previous roles as well as to my current one at Google. I would say I’m evidence that a small school in Cranbrook can help someone land their dream job at a company like Google.”
You certainly are an inspiration, Michael!