Moody Abdul is having his cake and eating it, too.

The Douglas College Commerce and Business Administration Diploma grad has always had a passion for technology, but he soon found that life behind the screen coding someone else’s program was not the career path he wanted to embark on.

“I want to be the person who is leading that program or who is in charge of the project,” Abdul said, noting he hopes to work at Tesla or Google in the future. “I need business acumen for that.”

Instead of choosing between computer science and business when he was transferring to UBC, the 21-year-old did both at the same time, as a double-major.

He faces a difficult journey to graduation with limited time for a social life, but Abdul wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I’m having to sacrifice a little bit of everything, but I love it. If something is not intense and it’s not challenging me, it’s not motivating. The ‘easier’ path would be harder for me,” he said.

What pushes him as he juggles two majors is his love of technology. Even when he was younger, Abdul knew that his future would include a job in the ever-growing industry.

“I’ve always had a closer relationship with technology than I did with anything else,” he said. “Some people were really into sports, and others were into music, but for me it was technology – the computer and video games.”

Once Abdul graduates from UBC, the next step is to participate in a co-op or internship, preferably at a Vancouver start-up, where he will be able to gain valuable experience from the ground up before pursuing a career with one of Silicon Valley’s tech giants until he branches out on his own.

“My main goal is to be at a place where we’re pushing the boundaries of technology – essentially creating the future – and then I want to take it into my own hands,” he said.