A West Vancouver high school graduate is the recipient of an $80,000 scholarship that will go towards her STEM education.
First-year UBC student Helen Zhang is one of 50 students across Canada to be named a 2019 Schulich Leader Scholar.
Schulich Leader scholarships are awarded annually to high school graduates enrolling in a science, technology, engineering or mathematics undergraduate program at 20 partner universities across Canada, according to a UBC press release.
The $100-millon scholarship fund was launched in 2012 to encourage students to become the next pioneers of global scientific research and innovation, the release states.
Zhang, 17, graduated from Sentinel Secondary and began her studies at UBC this fall. According to the release, Zhang was selected for this year’s scholarship out of 1,400 nominees due to her “academic leadership at Sentinel” where she founded the Trial and Error Club to encourage students’ learning beyond the in-class curriculum.
The release also highlights Zhang’s volunteer work at the UBC Biodiversity Research Centre, where she helped investigate seagrass and invertebrate communities, and her co-founding of the Vancouver Young Artist Project, a fundraising initiative which sold artworks of Lower Mainland students to benefit BC Children’s Hospital.
“These students will make great contributions to society, both on a national and global scale,” stated businessman and philanthropist Seymour Schulich, scholarship program founder, in the release. “With their university expenses covered, they can focus their time on studies, research projects, extracurriculars, and entrepreneurial ventures. They are the next generation of technology innovators.”
