Having been chosen from a pool of six thousand different candidates from across the country, three NWT students are being given the chance to take a monumental step forward in their education.
Every year, the Loran Awards selects some of the best and brightest students they can find, and bring them along on a process to become Loran Scholars. The students are evaluated on the strength of their character, their ability to take initiative, and their involvement within their communities. After going through a lengthy selection and review process, Loran Scholars can benefit from unique opportunities that can give their education a quantum leap, and bring them even closer to their dream careers.
After sharing the news earlier in January that Ella Bertelsen, Audrey Debogorski, and Stella Fairman had been chosen as finalists for the Loran Awards, each of the girls was kind enough to share some of their thoughts on being chosen.
Q: What was your reaction to learning that you had been chosen to be a Loran Finalist?
Audrey: “I was ecstatic! I honestly wasn’t expecting to make it this far! I had a lot of hope in the initial application, but I know it’s a very prestigious award, so I also knew that a lot of other exceptional applicants would be applying. I wasn’t completely convinced that I was going to be one of the last ones. I was over the moon! It was great!”
Ella: “I was in shock, honestly, and it still doesn’t feel real, and I’m very very excited to be going because I’ve already met three really cool people from the North who I didn’t know, through Loran and through the interviewing process.”
Stella: “I was absolutely amazed! I think my heart started going so fast once I got the phone call! I was really happy, and really proud of myself. It’s crazy to hear that you’re a finalist, it’s obviously really exciting, and I feel very honoured to be in this position, and I’m very proud of myself for doing everything that I’ve done and being able to be in the finalists!”
Q: What are some of the things that you’ve done around your school and community that helped get Loran to take notice of you?
Audrey: “I’m very involved with the clubs at my school. I am the Co-President of our Interac Club that I’ve been a part of for the majority of my highschool career, and I’ve been President for two years. We’re very community involved, and we’re very passionate about helping to contribute to solving community issues like food insecurity, housing, and warmth. This March, we’re doing “Ease the Freeze,” where we collect warm clothing for a clothing drive. Overall, I think it’s mostly just giving back to the community.”
Ella: “I think one of the core values that Loran has is commitment to service in your community. In my case, in the past two years, I’ve been volunteering at my school library, just helping shelve books, because I think literacy is something I really care about, as I had a hard time learning to read as a kid. I am also involved in volunteering at a retirement home on Vancouver Island. Then back home in Yellowknife, I haven’t been able to do as much volunteering as I would like because I spend my school year down here in B.C., but I’ve been taking summer camp leadership roles in the community this past year. I worked for the Foster Care Coalition of Yellowknife as a cook at Camp Connections, which was probably one of the most growth inducing experiences I’ve ever had.”
Stella: “I have been the President of S.A.D.D., Students Against Destructive Driving, for the past two years. In that time, we’ve incorporated a lot more school involvement. I got in touch with S.A.D.D. Alberta, and they sent us quite a few posters, so that’s a really big part of it. Especially being up North where there’s not as much access to this kind of information. For example, S.A.D.D. Alberta is a really large organization, and here in the Northwest Territories, at Ecole St Patrick Highschool, we’re the only S.A.D.D. group. So I think being able to be out in the community, we do coat checks, and we’ve put on events before. We have one coming up at the end of February, and being in such a small community, I think that’s something that can stand out.”
Q: Aside from the Loran Award, what are your plans for your future?
Audrey: I’ve applied to a few universities, mainly U of C, U of A, and UBC. I’m hoping to get accepted to UBC for a Bachelors of Science and Nursing. Further down the line, my aspirations for my career would be to shift from nursing to eventually become a physician, and hopefully enter something neuroscience related.
Ella: “I just found out a couple days ago that I got accepted into McGill, and I also got into UBC before that, so I think it’s in between one of those two schools for my undergraduate, but in terms of what I actually want to go on to do, I know that I want to come back and be involved in Youth Mental Health, but I’m not sure if I want to do that from an education standpoint, or maybe working with the Northern Mosaic Network. I’m not one hundred percent sure, I just know I want to be involved back home.”
Stella: “I am planning to go to post-secondary. I’ve done all my applications and I am planning to take Political Science and Philosophy. Hopefully from there I’ll get my PhD, and after that I would really like to come back up here and help with reforming policies in terms of Indigenous peoples. I myself am Inuit from the NWT, and I see a lot of policy that can be reformed. I see a lot of places where the government can make a difference, and I want to be a part of that difference, and I feel that I have a good grasp of different implementations that can reach Indigenous students, or that can affect all students through Indigenous learning.”
Each of the girls also expressed great enthusiasm for taking advantage of some of the perks that come with being a Loran Scholar. This can include special summer work experience, one-on-one tutoring programs, gatherings with other Loran Scholars, and financial assistance.
From here, the NWT finalists will be brought to Toronto on the weekend of February 21st for Loran’s National Selections, where they will conduct additional interviews. This is where they will ultimately learn if they will be among the 36 students chosen for the Loran Awards. Even if they are not selected, they will still be eligible for a Loran Finalist Award, which comes with a $6,000 prize.
