8 Winnipeg Free Press - saturDAY, December 6, 2014
Submitted by University of Manitoba T here are more than 29,000 students at the University of Manitoba, each of them unique. Meet two students and a recent graduate who have used adversity in their lives to create their own success stories. Schulich Leader Scholarship Winners Young leaders Kailee Rutherford and Alexander Czehryn are known for their unshakable positive spirit, and for inspiring others to give back. The new U of M students won a Schulich Leader Scholarship, one of the most generous and competitive scholarships available to Canadian students. This year, there were 1,147 nominees from across Canada. Of these, 54 had applied to the U of M, and only Rutherford and Czehryn were selected. They say witnessing the suffering of others helped them define the path they wanted to pursue at university. “When I was half way done my chemo treatment, there was a 23-month- old boy beside me and I found out he had passed away,” remembers Rutherford, a graduate of Prairie Mountain High School in Somerset, Man. who began studying Science at the U of M this fall. “I knew then that I wanted to be able to help because I was mad that there was this little kid that was barely in this world and he was taken.” Rutherford was diagnosed with cancer in her Grade 11 year. In the face of this challenge, she maintained excellent grades, became an ambassador for the Terry Fox Foundation and was elected student council president. Her friends and family were amazed at her positive spirit, and how she turned heartbreaking experiences into her inspiration to one day become a doctor and help save young lives. Czehryn, who will receive $80,000 to support his Engineering studies, also dreams of saving lives. He says much of his inspiration comes from watching his father cope with hemophilia. His long term goal is to be a tissue engineer. He knows well the stories of when his dad was young and there were very few treatments for the symptoms of his disease. Czehryn says he sees how research has dramatically improved his dad’s treatment options, and he sees tissue engineering as a way to help people with conditions like his dad’s. “Tissue engineering is a new frontier so there’s still a lot of research being done and I want to be a part of that,” says Czehryn. “I want to be a part of creating solutions for the future.” His 99 per cent average upon graduation from the Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute certainly suggests that he has the potential to achieve his dreams. Both young leaders say they are incredibly grateful to receive the Schulich scholarship, and are excited to participate in campus clubs and expand their horizons at the University of Manitoba. “I really want to live up to this scholarship and use it well,” says Czehryn. “I will take my courses seriously and excel in everything I do.” The four-year award goes to 40 students per year from 20 eligible Canadian universities and is designated for students pursuing undergraduate studies in STEM subjects: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Recipients in the field of engineering are awarded $80,000. Those in the remaining fields receive $60,000. This is the third year in a row that two upcoming U of M first-year students received the award. Rhodes Scholar Alexa Yakubovich, the University of Manitoba’s most recent recipient of the Rhodes Scholarship, learned about loss early in life. When she was 12 years old, a family friend died of breast cancer. As a tribute, she began beading bracelets for family and friends. The project evolved over several years into “Beads for the Cure,” raising more than $8,000 for women’s cancer prevention and treatment. “The death of our friend shattered my young belief that ‘good things happen to good people,’ providing a painful lesson on the devastation of disease. In turn, I was driven to extend my involvement in public health and human rights advocacy, guided by the simple idea that people deserve the best chance to lead their healthiest, happiest lives,” she says. “The beads allowed me to feel like I was making a difference, albeit a small one, in the lives of those facing disease and hardship.” A recent graduate of the Faculty of Arts, Yakubovich became the 98th University of Manitoba student to be awarded a Rhodes Scholarship, the most prestigious award of its kind in Canada. The U of M is one of the leading institutions in Canada for number of Rhodes Scholars, and has produced more Rhodes Scholars than any other university in western Canada. Three of the scholarships were awarded this year on the Prairies, with two in Alberta. Yakubovich received her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in 2013 then went directly to the University of Oxford where she completed her Master of Science (with Distinction) this fall. She has done undergraduate and postgraduate research in a variety of fields, including gender studies, belief systems, cancer, heart disease and HIV/AIDS. She is currently working with Katherine Starzyk of the Social Justice Laboratory at the U of M and with the Centre for Human Right Research on strategies to improve water and sanitation services for First Nations in Canada. When she returns to Oxford this winter, her focus will be on improving child well-being in socially disadvantaged communities, specifically how social disadvantage compounds child health problems, studying HIV-positive adolescents in low-income South African communities. “I am delighted that a young woman of such drive and passion has been recognized for her academic and personal achievements,” says U of M President and Vice-Chancellor David Barnard. “At the University of Manitoba, we are committed to inspiring minds through innovative and quality teaching. Our amazing record of producing Rhodes Scholars is a testament to this university’s ability to attract and nurture the best and brightest students.” Nurturing Excellence at the University of ManitobA
Schulich scholars Alexander Czehryn and Kailee Rutherford. Photo supplied by University of Manitoba
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