By Neil Corbett, The Maple Ridge – Pitt Meadows News
The grad class from Maple Ridge secondary school features 11 students who have earned academic scholarships ranging from big to whopping.
Daisy Li, an international student from China who has attended MRSS for the last three years, was the top scholarship winner with a $110,500 award.
She said it was an unbelievable amount, and she had to be convinced she had really won so much.
Next year, Li will attend the University of Toronto for studies in a Communication, Culture, Information and Technology Program, and said she hopes to work in the fashion industry.
She said her parents chose Maple Ridge to keep her focused.
“My parents know me so well. They know if they put me in Vancouver there are a lot of distractions for me, and I couldn’t focus on studying,” she said. “But Maple Ridge is quite a small town, and quiet. I can focus more on studying here.”
She put up a 97 per cent average, and admits her laser focus sometimes drifted to friends and shopping.
“I work really hard, but I also have leisure time,” she said. “Before COVID, I would go shopping every day.
There are also three more international student scholarships to UBC of $80,000.
Marshal Guo, from China, won one of the $80,000 scholarships, and he will study computer science. Guo has attended MRSS for five years, and said he has made a lot of friends. His average is a perfect 100 per cent.
Guo will also compete on the UBC fencing team, and looks to be an immediate contributor – he took second place at a Canada Cup event in 2019 in Richmond, in the under-23 class.