A Mission Senior Secondary (MSS) student will head to university in the fall as the recipient of a prestigious scholarship.
After graduating this June, Victor Dekarli will travel to Montréal to attend McGill University with a $40,000 entrance scholarship and the $100,000 Schulich scholarship.
The Schulich scholarship is awarded to students with an interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) that are strong leaders and give back to the community.
More than 4,000 high schools submit a nominee for the award with just 100 recipients selected. Dekarli says he couldn’t believe he received the scholarship when he found out.
“When you’re going up against all these top STEM students from across Canada, you don’t have high hopes going into it,” Dekarli said.
“When I got that email and found out that I received the scholarship, it was a surreal experience. I really had to take some time to process that and it’s just been incredible.”
Dekarli also received entrance scholarships to the University of Alberta for $11,000 and the University of Victoria at $3,000, in addition to a $1,250 scholarship from the District Authority. The application process for the scholarships required an abundance of essay writing and self-reflection.
An education in STEM was the clear-cut first choice for Dekarli, and so was McGill. He says he’s always had an interest in finding the deeper meaning of how the things around us work.
“From a young age, I kind of took an interest in discovering the world around me and trying to really get to the bottom of how the trees grow, or how the grass grows, and what was powering the cars that we drive every day,” he said.
When he was first able to pick his courses, he gravitated towards learning more about science. Dekarli says his favourite subject is math because there’s always a clear answer.
He is also in the French Immersion program at Mission Secondary and has been considering McGill as an option for post-secondary schooling for years.
“It was a very natural choice for me knowing that I would still be able to continue to speak French on a regular basis,” he said. “It helped knowing its prestige and the beauty of the campus and the environment as well.”
Despite his interest in McGill, Dekarli also considered staying closer to home. He says he’s nervous but excited to be in a completely different environment.
“I’m mostly nervous about leaving my friends and family but also about being alone,” he said. “I’ll have to be as outgoing as I can but I know that hopefully won’t be much of a struggle.”
During his time at Mission Secondary, he was part of the leadership team, musical theatre band and jazz band.
“I love the environment and how there is such a community feel where everyone knows everyone and you can walk around and see someone you know all the time,” he said.
At McGill, Dekarli will have to maintain his academic standing to keep his scholarship. He needs to close out the school year with a 97.3 average and achieve a 3.7 GPA at minimum in Montréal.
“I am kind of just doing my best to keep motivated right now,” Dekarli said. “I know it feels like it’s almost there but I’m just doing my best to stay in the zone and really push through to come out successfully at the end.”
Graduation for MSS students is scheduled for June 27 at 11 a.m. at Mission Raceway, with the event also streamed online.
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dillon.white@missioncityrecord.com
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