By Meghan Roberts
When Kyle MacDonald set out to get a house, he decided that a 9-to-5 job was not the most interesting strategy for success. Instead, he began a series of trades, beginning with one red paperclip that would eventually lead him to fame and his ultimate goal: a house.
When asked what inspired him to start his journey to trade a paperclip for a house, Kyle MacDonald laughed and said “procrastination.” MacDonald, a UBC Geography alumnus, always had a patchwork of random jobs, from planting thousands of trees in his summer months to working part-time contracts. Like many recent graduates, MacDonald was hesitant to commit to a permanent position.
When MacDonald and his girlfriend made the decision to begin saving for a home of their own, he knew he must commit to furthering their goal. MacDonald was able to use this motivation and skills he learned from his Arts experience to forge his own path.
Influenced by a game he played as a child, “Bigger and Better,” MacDonald made the decision to trade his way to a house. The object of the game is to trade a small object for an object of greater value, continuing to achieve the most gain at the end of the allotted period of time. MacDonald armed himself with a red paperclip as his first item and began advertising online for the first trade.
He kept a detailed account of the objects he received and the trades he made. Such items included a fish pen, a snowmobile, an afternoon with rock star Alice Cooper, a movie role, and, of course, the house in Kipling, Saskatchewan.
MacDonald’s success was publicized worldwide: He has a two-page feature in Ripley’s Believe it or Not! …the Remarkable Revealed; appeared on Weekend Today on NBC; and now has his own book entitled: One Red Paperclip: Or How an Ordinary Man Achieved His Dream with the Help of a Simple Office Supply.
A transfer student from Simon Fraser University, MacDonald was drawn to UBC’s vibrant community and thriving social scene. The potential to expand his personal network and the variety of events available to students made his decision effortless.
MacDonald capitalized on these opportunities by choosing to live in one of UBC’s most active residences: Totem Park. He felt that his time in Totem Park allowed him to refine his networking and organizational skills.
“Living away from home [makes you appreciate] what can transpire when a bunch of people live in the same place together,” MacDonald explains, “I realized you could make things happen very fast.”
His advice to students? “University should not be for getting a job,” MacDonald passionately advocates. He believes that students should be at university because they want to expand their knowledge.
