Daredevils come in all types and characters, and Viktor Sokha, VP of Finance and Administration, is no different with his penchant for skydiving in open skies. We caught up with Viktor to chat about overcoming fears and the untapped creativity needed in accounting.

What do you like about your role in the ECU community?

I like that I can make a change and see that I can make a difference. Whether I help to achieve something, whether we get new equipment, it elevates the university to a higher level, and that keeps me going and brings me joy.

What’s something you wish people understood about finances that fascinates you?

I would love it if people understood that accounting and finances can be creative. It’s not just doing $1 plus $1—It can open doors in many ways. Sometimes, when it seems impossible to balance finances, you properly look at your resources, information, and what you have available; you can achieve way more than you initially thought. It’s not the type of creativity that we would think one would see within the walls of Emily Carr, but it’s still creative. Finance people are, in a way, trying to make something that seems to be impossible possible. Of course, we never step over the rules and boundaries of our profession, but still, we have a lot of room to look at how to achieve our goals differently. Accounting and finance can be a reasonably creative job — the reality is that it’s not as dry as it used to seem.

What’s one unexpected thing that people might not know about you?

I’m a skydiver. I got into it fairly recently because I was always deathly afraid of heights and decided, ‘You know what? I need to overcome that fear.’ I did my first tandem jump with an instructor in Arizona and fell backwards into the bushes, which was pretty hard to get out of! (Laughs). I realized it’s not so scary, and it’s fun. Since then, I’ve been jumping slowly in different drop zones. As long as you follow the rules, which in my profession, I do, then it’s a fairly safe thing.

If we set you loose, what would you present a TED Talk on?

I could talk about the safety of skydiving and the funny things I’ve seen on jumps. Before I took my final skydiving exam, a person was planning to do a tandem jump with an instructor, and the plane took off, the doors opened, and let’s jump. Then that guy decided, ‘No, I won’t jump,’ and started holding the door! But it was too late, and the instructor pushed him out in a split second. When we watched the video, the guy screamed for five seconds before it turned into a scream of joy! When they got to the ground, he apologized and immediately decided to go up again.

They first taught us, ‘Don’t be smart.’ If you have doubts about how to land or it’s a congested area, turn around and land in the desert. No one is going to judge you. I had to do that twice out of my 30 jumps or so! I just turned and landed in the bushes. I thought my instructor would yell at me, “Why did you do that?” The first thing I heard from them was, ‘Way to go! You did the right thing.

Who is one musician or band (dead or alive) you would love to see live?

It would be Pink Floyd with the original composition, even though they’re long gone. I saw them once in the 90s and travelled to London to see them, which was fun.