A local Grade 12 student's embodiment of perseverance, integrity and excellence has been recognized through being awarded a national scholarship.
A local Grade 12 student's embodiment of perseverance, integrity and excellence has been recognized through being awarded a national scholarship.
Banff's Luna Kawano was chosen as a winner for a $5,000 post-secondary scholarship from the charitable organization Horatio Alger Association of Canada (HAAC) on Jan. 10.
The annual scholarships are awarded to 85 deserving Canadian high school and CEGEP (Quebec pre-university program) students in financial need who have overcome significant adversity while demonstrating strength of character, strong academics and commitment to pursue higher education, as well as desire to contribute to society.
The HAAC winners include five $10,000 scholarships and 80 $5,000 scholarships.
Born and bred in the mountain community, Kawano had little time to waste when filling out the scholarship's application form.
Walking through the hallways at Banff Community High School one day, Kawano was stopped by career advisor Roger Mah Poy.
“He asked how motivated I am and handed me the scholarship application form,” said the 17-year-old student. “It was due in a few weeks from the day he gave it to me, and after reading it over and seeing the requirements, it matched up for me and I decided to apply.”
HAAC issues themes every year, and in this round, scholarships were awarded to students who have faced a hardship, but still continued forward with their academics.
Since she was a nine-year-old girl, Kawano and her family have needed financial support. Kawano was raised by a single mother, which meant a single income for the family.
Career advisor Mah Poy praised Kawano and said she symbolizes the scholarship's criteria – perseverance, integrity and excellence – amazingly well.
“Luna is an outstanding academic student, athlete, artist and volunteer in school and in the community,” wrote Mah Poy in an email.
“She has an amazing work ethic, positive attitude and quiet leadership. She is always so appreciative of any suggestions given to her. Her team leadership in rugby, volleyball and basketball is amazing as well.
“Many are presented with open doors, too few choose to walk through them. Luna did.”
Kawano, a volunteer in the community and leader on sports teams, fluently speaks English and Japanese, and is working towards being able to fluently speak French.
Still in the process of applying to schools, Kawano is looking into computer or software engineering at universities of Toronto and Waterloo in Ontario, and McGill in Quebec, among others.
She plans on applying for additional scholarships within whichever school she attends.
“It will be my first year moving away from Banff, and I'm really excited to go,” said Kawano. “I just want to thank Mr. Mah Poy for bringing it up to me.”
