Local Catholic high school students awarded Schulich scholarships
Two Edmonton students have been awarded a much-coveted undergraduate science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) scholarship, the Schulich Leadership Scholarship, which is only given to 100 high school students across Canada.
One of the students, Colin Chan, from Mother Margaret Mary Catholic High School, has been tinkering with Legos and building blocks ever since he was a kid.
“I love to play around and ask myself why is this component there and why are things the way they are?” said Chan.
Another student, Raphael Kelly from Archbishop Macdonald Catholic High School, became interested in STEM through math.
“I just enjoyed sitting down and thinking ... the idea of something that could be really difficult at first and if I spent enough time with it I could understand it and get better at it,” said Kelly.
Both students have spent their time working on projects, doing research and participating in science fairs where Chan was trying to develop bioplastic spoons and Kelly used his passion for math to model the migration of birds and their impact on how diseases will spread.
“I wanted to be an innovator. I wanted to be someone who tried to solve problems,” said Chan.
“I like connecting (math) to other things which can help address problems in the real world,” said Kelly.
Both were nominated by their schools for the scholarship and found out differently how they won.
Chan was in English class when he saw a notification on his phone with the word congratulations pop up.
“I remember jumping out of my seat from the pure excitement, that scholarship is nothing to sneeze at, it's such a life-changing opportunity,” Chan said.
Kelly was asleep after studying all night for a test he had that day when his mom came in and woke him up to say there was someone on the phone for him. Kelly said he was both shocked and tired and it took some time to fully process it.
“It felt really validating, and also realizing that I would have access to the Schulich network and the opportunities that come with that,” Kelly said.
Chan is going to attend the University of Alberta and is hoping to specialize in mechanical engineering.
Kelly will be heading west to attend the University of British Columbia and hopes to get more serious about his research, whether it's in diseases or something else. One day he would like to have a startup company.
The Schulich Leadership Scholarship awards $100,000 to engineering students and $80,000 to science and math students.