Lauren Brown

Flight Instructor and Bush Pilot

Bachelor of Arts, Philosophy, 2011

As long as you keep trying new things and are truly open to new experiences, all of a sudden you’ll figure out what it is that you really want to do.

Lauren Brown’s future is up in the air.

Interested in the humanities as a high school student, Lauren applied to King’s last minute. Like many university students, she felt anxious at the prospect of having to decide on a major or career path at such a young age. “I enjoyed learning, but I always felt really concerned about what I was going to do with all this.” she says.

For Lauren, the Foundation Year Program (FYP) was an experience that allowed her to approach learning in an entirely different way than she had before.

After completing the Foundation Year Program and a year of science courses at Dalhousie, Lauren took off to the United Kingdom, where she lived and worked for a year. Upon her return to Nova Scotia, a friend encouraged her to take a flying lesson for fun. That was all it took. Lauren earned her Private Pilot License before deciding to return to King’s. This time, however, she came at learning with a different approach. Lauren studied what she wanted to: philosophy.

“I ended up taking a number of feminist philosophy courses and I loved it. Maybe that’s appropriate because I’ve ended up in a male dominated field.”

By taking her friends up in a small six-seater plane over the Bay of Fundy, Lauren was able to keep up her flight skills while studying. In addition to receiving her BA, she trained and achieved her Commercial Pilot License, and began work as a flight instructor.

At present, Lauren is based in Canmore, Alberta and works as a pilot for Kenn Borek Air. A regular day might involve flying climate scientists to remote research locations or carrying passengers through the high Arctic. “It’s a very cool experience to learn and be around these scientists,” she says. “It feels like you’re on the front lines of climate change research sometimes.” For someone who loves challenges and perpetual adventures, this is the perfect place for Lauren.

“As long as you keep trying new things and are truly open to new experiences, all of a sudden you’ll figure out what it is that you really want to do.”

Updated: Aug. 2020