When Sam Corbett went to school to study business administration, he did not imagine ending up in a Williams Lake retirement home at the age of 26.
"You're in business school you're like 'I'll work at Tesla' that's what you think," laughed Corbett, about his younger self.
But Corbett is more than happy at his current job as the community relations manager at Williams Lake Seniors Village, which makes sense, given his engaging smile and easy manner, he is very approachable.
"It's the best, I love it," he said of his role, describing the small daily interactions he has with residents and the other staff.
"I have a great team," he said.
Like many young people, Corbett left high school planning to never look back. He travelled to New Zealand and Australia after he graduated high school in 2016, attending a bible school while he was there.
He returned to B.C. and attended Trinity Western University in Langley from 2017 to 2021. He graduated with a bachelor's business administration degree, specializing in both finance and marketing, imagining himself working in banking.
But after working in an accounting role for a large bread company, he realized crunching numbers all day wasn't for him, he enjoyed working with people.
He gave up the perk of free bread and then got a job selling specialized cameras for boats, even getting to travel to Amsterdam for a trade show.
But it didn't take the Cariboo man long to get tired of the long commutes and cost of living which often come with city life. He reached a point where he wasn't happy with his situation and he thought he'd take some time to regroup.
"I was ready to try something new."
With his best friend and his brother both getting married within three weeks of one another, he returned to Williams Lake to take some time off and think about what he wanted to do next.
He had a great reintroduction to Williams Lake and got a job at Fox Mountain Brewing in 2022.
While he was working at the brewery, a family friend who was previously in the role he has now, reached out to him and asked him if he might be interested in the position.
So he looked into it and applied and went through the process, ending up with the position.
"It's very much a small town where you get opportunities that you'd never get on the coast at this young of an age," he said.
Corbett didn't grow up with grandparents around and finds his role now allows him to learn about things he may otherwise not have been exposed to.
"There's things you can learn from history and experience you otherwise couldn't learn," he explained, recalling some stories residents have shared with him from previous decades.
While he may not have had grandparents, Corbett does come from a relatively big family. His dad David Corbett was a shop teacher for 37 years, his mom Esther Corbett is the pastor of the Cariboo Bethel Church, and Sam is the youngest of four siblings, Susie, Josiah, Rebekah and himself.
He said while the entire family played music, his brother Josiah and sister Rebekah are the most musical, and Josiah is recording an album. Corbett said he and Susie focused more on sports when they were younger.
A lot of the community he grew up with are still in the lakecity or have returned.
"Williams Lake kind of has that effect, I've noticed, a lot of people come back," he said.
Since he's been back and no longer has a lengthy commute or same cost of living, Corbett is enjoying playing more music again and is looking forward to spending more time in the winter skiing and snowboarding with family and friends.
Corbett volunteers with a youth group at the church as well and hopes to be able to take the step of buying a home, right here, in his hometown.
"Who's to say that's forever or not, but for now, it's great," he said.
