My name is Louis Anthony Yau. I was born in Hong Kong, but my parents brought me and my brother to Canada when I was still just a baby. Although I was born abroad, I’ve been a Canadian Citizen since birth through at least one or both of my parents, who had acquired citizenship through naturalization.
I grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, where I lived up until my early 20s. As a child, I was mostly left to my own devices, and I feel I didn’t really receive the guidance I needed in my youth to make the right decisions for my future. I did quite poorly in high school, and as a result, I wasn’t able to get into university after graduation. While I was told it wouldn’t be the end of the world, I know my own life would have been very different had I had the opportunity to attend university straight out of high school.
After a few years of not really knowing what I wanted for myself, I eventually decided to go to SAIT in Calgary to study Baking and Pastry Arts, which took two years for me to complete and earn a diploma. Initially, I really thought that I would one day become a world-class pastry chef. This would be evident further in my career when I would spend a few years working abroad to gain experience. Between my first and second year in school, I had already completed an internship in NYC.
Near the end of October one morning in 2013, I made an impromptu decision to move to Vancouver. I had spent an entire day packing everything in my car that by the time I was finished, the sun was already starting to set. I had thought to stay back one more night so that I could head out during the day but decided against it. I arrived in Vancouver on Oct 31st, I remember because I recall the sound of fireworks being set off that evening and reading about Vancouver’s history with launching fireworks on Halloween.
After two years of living in Vancouver, I made another decision to move to Melbourne, Australia. I had spent the past couple years making Vancouver my home but ended up selling most of everything I had to supplement my travels. While I initially came with a car packed full of all my belongings, I left for Australia with just two suitcases in hand.
My working visa for Australia was only valid for one year, but by the end of the year, I felt I was still not ready to come home. So, I decided to apply for a working visa to the UK, after which I booked a one-way plane ticket to London, England, where I lived for two years.
I eventually did have to come back to Canada. I had moved back home in Edmonton briefly before coming back to Vancouver. For some time, I was quite aimless in what I wanted to do. I had given up my career as a pastry chef and no longer wanted anything to do with that industry. I had realized the future I wanted for myself meant that I would have to go back to school, although I was apprehensive of the thought of attending university as an adult.
I chose the IDEA program at Capilano University because I had researched to find the program to be the best in the city. If I were to go back to school, I wanted to set myself up to have my best chances of success after graduating. At the moment, my interests lie mostly in developing my skills as an illustrator, but I’m also interested in getting into interactive design and creating experiences for other people.