UBC Sauder Co-op student, Yui Mikuriya, has earned the award for University Co-op Student of the Year in 2024, standing out as the top student out of an estimated 100,000 university Co-op students across Canada. It is only the 2nd time a UBC student has won in the 31-year history of this award from Co-operative Education & Work-Integrated Learning (CEWIL) Canada.
Yui is a 5th year UBC Sauder Co-op business student pursuing her Business and Technology Management specialization. As an international student who spent half her childhood in Japan and half in France, Yui completed 5 Co-op work terms in 3 different languages: English, French, and Japanese. Yui completed two Co-ops for Microsoft in Montreal and Vancouver; and one each for Apple, Adobe and Plaid, all in Japan. With a diverse range of life experiences all around the world, she has a life mission to act as a bridge between different cultures to help foster mutual understanding.
After receiving help from senior Co-op students, employers and Sauder staff, Yui felt compelled to give back and has spent 1,480 hours helping students locally and abroad succeed in Co-op and Work-Integrated Learning (WIL). As the Head Teaching Assistant for two mandatory BCom courses, Yui reimagined the curriculum for 1,000 BCom students annually, replacing the course textbook with videos of real-life work examples, helping students see the value of WIL. To spread Co-op values globally, she also co-founded a student organization in Japan, where she fosters a community and has led workshops for hundreds of aspiring interns in Japan’s tech industry.