CELEBRATING B.C. HIGH SCHOOL GRADS
SASHA BYELKOVA, SHANELLE GILL, JOANNA WANG, VIVIAN YIN & SEAN YIN
Semiahmoo Secondary School, Surrey
It is hard to believe that we are already living in the year 2020. This is the far-off-sounding year where we all imagined we would have flying cars and have our first human to Mars. Instead, 2020 turned a different direction — much, I think — from these expectations. The year 2020 was difficult for everyone, for several different reasons on various levels. So, while we as the class of 2020 celebrate, we also have to be careful and attentive to everyone around us. Despite what has happened this year, I am proud to say I am graduating as a part of the class of 2020. Not everyone can say the Obamas, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and BTS wished them off for their grad year in a livestream concert. We had to skip and lose so much of our grad year, but we must not let this go to waste. I am going to treat this as a wake-up call, telling us that anything can happen whenever, wherever. We’ve got to grasp onto time, and soak up every minute we get. If we are able to take this time and make it into a call for action, I think we are going to have a bright future before us.
ALEXANDER CORDEIRO
St. Thomas More Collegiate, Burnaby
Alex will be attending Trinity Western University in the fall and hopes to major in History. Alex is an avid football and soccer player, and has received a Founders Academic scholarship as well as a soccer scholarship. He’s looking forward to continuing to play a game he loves as well as pursue his love of history.
JOSHAN GILL
Seaquam Secondary School, Delta
We are so proud of you and your accomplishments. We wish you all the best in your future endeavours. Good luck at UBC.
MIA LOPES
St. Thomas More Collegiate, Burnaby
Mia will be attending Simon Fraser University to study psychology. She would like to thank her friends, family and teachers for guiding her and supporting her along the way. Wishing all the Grads of 2020 the very best!
JOSHUA HUDON
St. Thomas Aquinas High School, North Vancouver
We are so proud of our son. He has the biggest heart and the biggest smile. Congratulations on your graduation. So happy to share in your excitement for this special day. We celebrate you today and all your successes and accomplishments. We are excited for your future and your next big adventure in Australia. It’s time for us to step back and let you shine.
NATALIE DANIELS
Pitt Meadows Secondary School
Natalie hopes to work for The Walt Disney Company as an animator. In the next few months, she will be taking computer 3D animation and digital art courses through Vancouver art schools.
ANDREW MATTES
Nanaimo District Secondary School
Andrew’s proud parents, Alex and Sarah, along with the extended Mattes and Warner families, have constantly cheered Andrew on. He has been balancing his athletics, school and volunteerism while working at Thrifty’s on the front line during COVID-19. Andrew has accepted an offer to play with the Vancouver Island Raiders Football Club, was named to the B.C. Top 50 Rugby Players, and will play for the Vancouver Island Hornets Rugby Club in the future.
DANIELLE BOND
Notre Dame Regional Secondary School, Vancouver
After five very successful years at Notre Dame, Danielle is off to SFU’s Beedie School of Business. She wishes all her fellow graduates the best in their future endeavours.
ADAM FINCH
St. John Brebeuf Regional Secondary, Abbotsford MIKAYLA MEDWEDRICH
Notre Dame Regional Secondary School, Vancouver SEBASTIAN PUGLIESE
St. Thomas More Collegiate, Burnaby TYSON SCHAAL
Samuel Robertson Technical Secondary School, Maple Ridge MAKENNA SCHIERLING
Seaquam Secondary School, Delta
Makenna will be attending the University of Victoria in September to pursue a bachelor of science. Makenna, we love you, and we are so incredibly proud of your determination, dedication, and of the amazing person you are. Always remember, “If you can dream it, you can do it.”
ALEX TURPIN
Port Moody Secondary School
Alex has been co-president of his school for four years, and is the head of the grad council. Alex is also a SOAR leader teaching Grade 9 students important lessons such as social media awareness and the effects of drugs. Alex moved out on his own when he was 15 and is a child in care. His plan is to become a criminal lawyer and a youth advocate and change the child protection system so that children aren’t in any danger with how their case is handled. His hopes for next year while studying at UBC is to tutor at-risk youth, because he believes education and dedication to education is the strongest way to survive an unfit home. Alex has won significant scholarships from companies, trades, faculties and school districts.
He would like to pass along a message to his fellow grads: “Congratulations, Grads of 2020, for all of your hard work and perseverance. We are a family like no other. I would like to thank my fellow classmates for allowing me to have endless leadership opportunities and for being a part of what I call home. I’m looking forward to seeing all of you in the future and hearing your stories. I wish you all the best.”
BRIANNA CHRISTENSEN
Thomas Haney Secondary School, Maple Ridge
Brianna has been accepted to the University of the Fraser Valley this fall. She will be working toward a bachelor of arts, and plans to pursue a career in teaching. She would eventually like to travel to Korea to teach English.
MYRTLE RANCES
Yale Secondary School, Abbotsford
Although my senior year was cut short, my hopes for the future remain the same. I aspire to impact people in a way that will leave my mark in this world. In whatever career I choose to pursue, my hope is to help others and be part of a greater change, whether in the education system or the world of medicine. I desire to be the one who supports those behind me and presses toward a brighter future. I might not make the biggest difference in this world, but I will strive to accomplish my best. I hope that after this pandemic passes, we will witness the world healing and people appreciating what was once left unnoticed. Graduating during these times leaves us with the empty feeling that we did not experience the expected, but allows us to cling to our hopes and show the world what we have to offer.
ZIVEN ANDERSON
University Transition Program, UBC, Vancouver
I believe in the proverbial phrase “the future is now.” Although I do not know exactly which field I will pursue, I do know that by taking action today, I can shape a life of my dreams. My name is Ziven Anderson, and I am graduating from the University Transition Program — a program for gifted learners to complete high school in two years, although I have finished it in one year. I have eclectic interests ranging from computer programming to quantum mechanics to writing. I hope to fuse these together, along with my entrepreneurial passion, by starting a technology company with the intention of making a positive difference in the world — something I have wanted to do ever since I was a young child. Next year, I will begin my studies at the University of British Columbia in a science and business dual-degree program. Beyond that, who knows? Maybe I will pursue a PhD. For now, although I am saddened by global events from the COVID-19 pandemic to issues of systemic racism, I am excited by the prospect that we are living through future history, and I hope that I can help shape it by seizing the future now.
HANNAH BELSEY
Thomas Haney Secondary School, Maple Ridge
Hannah sends a huge thank you to her family, teachers, friends and everyone who made high school so incredibly memorable. Her plan for next year is to work, and her hope for the future is to travel and start a career in fashion and business. #2020!
JADE RIDGEWELL
South Delta Secondary School
Jade is an avid hockey player and a very good student. In the fall, she will be attending Trinity Western University, and hopes one day to be an Olympic athlete representing Canada.
HANNAH & PAIGE SHARPE
Windsor Secondary School, North Vancouver
Next year, Hannah, left, will be attending Carleton University in Ottawa, where she’ll be studying International Business. She hopes to specialize in marketing and go into a career in this field. Her dream is to work and to travel — specifically around Europe — and hopefully make her way back to Vancouver in the future. Paige will be attending the University of Waterloo in the fall. At Waterloo, she will be studying health sciences and playing on the varsity field hockey team. After five years of both studying and doing co-ops, she hopes to further her education by attending medical school with the final goal of becoming a physician.
JOLENE VERDICCHIO
Windsor Secondary School, North Vancouver
Even though Jolene’s class has faced many challenges, they have also had many blessings. During this time, she has had time to reflect. In that reflection, she realized that we have the freedom to be whatever we want to be, and that we are much stronger than we ever thought we could be. She wants to say to the class of 2020, “this is a grad that will go down in history. Here’s to the future.”
RAIHAAN LALANI LAUREN REIMER
Westview Secondary School, Maple Ridge
Lauren is an engaged and active student at Westview. She has amazing aspirations to be a teacher and will be attending college in the fall. Her entire family is very proud of her and the accomplishments she’s made thus far, and they are sending huge congratulations to the entire class of 2020 at Westview.
Sentinel Secondary School, West Vancouver
Raihann has had a great time during his high school journey and has met many amazing people. He looks forward to going to university and studying commerce in the fall, and is excited for all the adventures that lie ahead.
ELISE VARTY
Vancouver Technical Secondary School
Over the summer, Elise plans on working and enjoying what B.C. has to offer by hiking, kayaking and camping. Next fall, she will be attending the University of Victoria for psychology and social justice and plans to live on campus. After getting her undergraduate degree in psychology, she hopes to attend law school to pursue a career as a criminal lawyer. Her ultimate goal is to become prime minister. Elise is happy to have graduated and excited for the future.
REED TAYLOR
Samuel Robertson Technical Senior Secondary, Maple Ridge
Reed has excelled in music and singing throughout her tenure at SRT and is looking forward to post-secondary studies in the fall.
JOSEPH DIAZ
Vancouver Technical Secondary School
Joseph would like to go into marketing after graduation, and plans to attend Langara College.
VERONIKA COPPING
Surrey Christian School
Veronika is a proud 2020 grad from Surrey Christian School. She has not yet fully decided what she intends to pursue in terms of career, but plans to attend the University of British Columbia and take courses in the realm of social sciences, and graduate with a bachelor of arts in politics-philosophy-economics. At the age of six, Veronika founded a non-profit organization called The Juicebox Project. Since then, each week, they collect refundable beverage containers from an elementary school and other local organizations, sort them, return them for money, and then use that money to sponsor wheelchairs for children in Guatemala. She plans to gain the skills necessary to grow her non-profit organization and further that work. She would like to work in a sector that allows her to continually create change in the lives of others and make the world a better place for everyone.