A UTSC Anthropology student has received an award from the Canadian Anthropology Society recognizing her as one of Canada’s top graduating students.
Alyanna Denise Chua received a Bachelor’s Award in CASCA’s Outstanding Graduating Student Awards 2023.
“I am beyond honoured to receive this award,” said Alyanna. “I did not even know what anthropology was before I entered UTSC, and only stumbled upon the discipline by accident in my first semester, so being recognized by a national anthropological body is such a profound way to cap off my undergraduate career.”
“Here is how I can best describe where my passion for anthropology stems from: I feel like I'd been sleeping all my life, and only woke up when I took the introductory course in socio-cultural anthropology with Prof. Bianca Dahl. The holistic, empirical, and empathetic approach of the discipline clarified the world for me like no other.”
“I want the professors in the department to know that they have changed my life, especially Profs. Bianca Dahl, Maggie Cummings, Lena Mortensen, Donna Young, Katie Kilroy-Marac, and Girish Daswani, who served as my strongest mentors. I have also learned invaluable insights from Profs. Antonio Sorge, Vinicius de Aguiar Furuie, Chris Krupa, and Waqas Butt. They embody teaching and mentoring when done at their best.”
“My journey in anthropology has not always been easy. Perhaps this is a lesson in pursuing what makes you happy and enthusiastic about life. The endeavour may be risky, but it may also just be worth it.”
Congratulation Alyanna!