Levelling up: How a gamer hit pause on UTM to go pro, then came back to graduate
Every gamer knows that the best quests bring you back to where you started. For Juan Guibert, graduating from University of Toronto Mississauga marks the end of a nearly decade-long run that took him from the classroom to the world of professional esports — and back again.
Guibert arrived at U of T Mississauga as a commerce student in 2015 and soon joined the university’s tri-campus team for League of Legends, a competitive online game where teams battle for control of a virtual arena.
Already boasting a strong track record, Guibert helped propel the team through a string of high-profile collegiate tournaments, including a world championship appearance in Wuhan, China, and a title win in Taipei.
Those victories earned him a shot to go pro. But his parents, who immigrated from Peru to Canada with high hopes for his education, needed some convincing.
“They weren’t happy about it,” Guibert recalls. “I'd prepared a whole spiel where I told them, I looked into it. I can pause my studies for a year or two and pick up where I left off.”
With his parents’ cautious approval, he set off for L.A. in 2018 to join the high-octane world of professional esports — complete with roster changes, coaching staff, contract negotiations and fan followings you'd find in any major league.
At the time, Guibert says, League of Legends was booming, with matches drawing hundreds of thousands of views. At its peak, premier tournaments packed arenas, including New York’s Madison Square Garden.
What was meant to be a gap year stretched into a five-year competitive run. The grind of up to 14-hour practice days eventually began to wear on him, and even as he continued to perform, the pace was hard to sustain.
He stepped away from the professional circuit in 2022 and returned home to Brampton. He spent a few months weighing his options but kept circling back to an unfinished mission.
“I decided that going back to UTM would best set me up for success.”
Returning to school in 2023 wasn’t as simple as picking up where he left off. He shifted his focus from finance to a double major in marketing and economics, and after years away, had to brush up on skills like academic writing and calculus. He also made an effort to reconnect with campus life, aiming to befriend at least one person in every class.
What helped with the transition, he says, was applying the same work ethic he honed as a pro gamer. “I was so used to working a ridiculous amount,” he says. “By comparison, it felt like I had so much free time.”
He didn’t officially join the campus’s League of Legends team but remained connected, occasionally lending his expertise and subbing in for matches.
As he graduates, Guibert has no intention of hitting restart on his gaming career. In his final school year, he interned at Borealis Foods, a food technology startup, and he hopes to pursue more opportunities in the field.
“Since I quote-unquote retired from esports two and a half years ago, I've been trying to focus on finding enjoyment in other things.”
For students torn between their passions and their studies, Guibert offers this advice: there’s no one right way to play the game.
“If you have the means, I would say by all means, pursue your dreams,” he says. “But finishing school and taking the more traditional path is also nothing to be ashamed of.”
