FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Scholarship for Massey grad
It didn’t occur to Amelia Ng that her desire to start a breakfast club at Massey in Grade 10 might help her land an Ivy League education.
Each week Ng has overseen the 10 to 20 students needed to run the program while maintaining a grade average in the 90s.
Ng ’s intent was to help her peers’ academic performances, but she believes her efforts are partially responsible for a grant and her acceptance into Cornell University’s nutrition science program this fall.
The school will cover more than half the $70,000 annual cost to attend the Ithaca, N.Y., institution.
“I can’t speak for the university’s administration, but they want to know you and what you’re doing as part of the acceptance process,” Ng said of the role her extracurricular activities played in her early acceptance to Cornell.
“They don’t just look at your grades and SAT scores. One of the three things they look at is your extracurricular activities.”
In addition to founding the breakfast club, Ng has been an instructor at the Red Cross and participated in several clubs at Massey.
She also heads the committee that oversees the food for Massey’s annual children’s Christmas party.
However, it’s her passion for nutrition that’s defined much of her life and the reason for the creation of the breakfast club.
Such passion is understandable when what’s on your plate could be fatal to you.
“Allergies have been a huge part of my life,” Ng said.
“I’ve researched a lot about nutrition because of that and I wanted to share how important it is with other people.
“I figured there were people worse off than me or even people who couldn’t afford food.
“I knew food was so important to the brain for learning, so midway through Grade 10 I approached (guidance counsellor Lisa Keletgian) about putting food around the school for students to snack on.”
Keletgian helped her launch a program that sees students do everything from ordering supplies to chopping and distribution to fundraising for the program.
“In some ways I wish I wasn’t leaving,” Ng said.
“There’s so much more we could do with this program.
“I did it because I cared about (her schoolmates) and I hoped (they cared) about me. It was about giving, humility and service.
“It was important to me to know I made a difference and helped my classmates in whatever way I could.”
Keletgian marvels at Ng ’s capacity to balance her busy life. “Amelia has high energy,” said Keletgian. “She’s a dedicated student and very high achiever.
“She’s gone above and beyond in extracurricular activities and on the schooling end. She has one of the toughest academic timetables in our enrichment program.
“She likes to have her voice heard.”
Beneath Ng’s friendly, engaging personality is a simmering personal drive.
A product of single parent home, Ng admits some of that comes from her circumstances.
“When you spend time with one parent, you get much closer,” Ng said.
“For me I needed to prove myself to my mother (Min You) and make her proud. She’s sacrificed so much for me.
“I’ve realized for my mom with this (Cornell grant), everything she has wanted for me has come true.”
Ng said Cornell emerged as her preferred school last summer after touring every Ivy League institution, except Dartmouth.
“I felt like I’d fit and thrive there for four years,” said Ng, who never applied to any Canadian schools after her early acceptance to Cornell.
“It wasn’t just the name or the academics, it was going to be my life for the next four years. I needed everything to fit and 90 per cent of my experience will be outside the classroom.”