Without the efforts of Abbotsford's Sam Varing, the Company of Young Professionals and Entrepreneurs (CYPE) might not exist today, and many thriving business connections would likely never have been established.

This cascading wave of influence over the Fraser Valley business community is exactly what prompted UFV to select Varing as the winner of this year's Young Distinguished Alumni Award.

Before she started running in so many local business circles, Varing was a young Abbotsford student hoping to pursue her dream of becoming a lawyer, which is a dream she said was nourished at UFV.

"I had the opportunity to go to university in the same city that I was born and raised in, and UFV felt like home," Varing said.

"The professors and instructors were really invested, the class sizes were

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