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Kevin Dunn

The places you’ll go

Like many university graduates, Kevin Dunn only had a vague notion of where his career path might lead him—he had no idea that his U of S degree in geography would help land him one of the most coveted travel jobs in the province: the Saskatchewanderer.

“I knew I was interested in dealing with environment and human interactions, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with it when I was finished,” said Dunn, who graduated five years ago from the U of S.

“Many of the classes I took looked at the perspectives of urban and rural life, along with urban planning. There were ties with community development and Indigenous studies. And I knew this was something I wanted to explore, but wasn’t sure how.”

After working for the City of Saskatoon for several years, Dunn set his sights on becoming the next ambassador for the province. And, much to his own surprise, he was accepted as the newest Saskatchewanderer, a position supported by the Government of Saskatchewan and other partners since 2011, to bring profile to the province.

Now he gets paid to travel and meet people—a natural extension of his studies at the U of S.

“When I’m out exploring the province, there are ways in which my education will help facilitate the ways in which I will be communicating with the people I meet,” said Dunn. “Something that really motivated me to take this was a result of the classes that I took. There were a lot of instances of community participation where I got to engage with the public, and I knew that this was a field that I wanted to explore further.”

Each year, a different Saskatchewanderer is hired to travel throughout the province and record their journey. The previous wanderer logged 46,000 kilometres, and Dunn said he is excited to hit that same mark, especially given that he admittedly didn’t get to travel much when he was a student.

“It took a year or two after convocation before I got to start exploring the province, and visit the destinations I had heard so much about,” said Dunn. “Diefenbaker Dam is so close to Saskatoon, and there is so much to see in-between here and there.”

While the Saskatchewanderer position is limited to a year-long contract, Dunn hopes that the experience will help him transition into his next dream job.

“I’m taking a leap of faith this year,” said Dunn. “Going from steady employment to a contract is a bit risky, but I’m hoping that this stint as the Saskatchewanderer will lead to more travel opportunities and another job where I get to showcase all the amazing things our province has to offer.” 

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