18-year-old Pooria Ahmadi from Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary School was one of 100 students selected for the 2024 Schulich Leader Scholarship, which will provide him with $100,000 for post-secondary education.
Chosen from a pool of 1,500 nominees from a larger group of over 300,000 candidates across Canada, Ahmadi has committed to attending Queen's University this fall and is now part of a national network of STEM scholars.
At Queen's, Ahmadi will pursue a major in computing with an option in Artificial Intelligence.
"I saw the email from Queen's admissions, and I nearly fell back into my door," said Ahmadi as he reflected on finding out he'd been selected. "I still can't comprehend the amount of money there is; I just can't wrap my head around it."
As a student who moved to Canada from Iran just over two years ago and speaks English as his second language, this achievement meant more to him than just an opportunity; it was a testament to his hard work and dedication.
"Where we see the strengths, we start recommending," said Holy Trinity Principal Teresa Castellarin. "Pooria's leadership abilities, in addition to his academic skills, started showing up, and that's when teachers began making recommendations."
The ideal candidate for the Schulich Leader Scholarship is someone who not only shows academic excellence but also demonstrates strong interpersonal skills.
Ahmadi says the $100,000 will help him focus on academics as he pursues his degree, for which he will need to maintain an average of at least 80%. He estimates his first year at Queen's will cost around $30,000, including housing and food but says the following years won't be as expensive.
Expecting to have some money left over after his 4-5 year degree, Ahmadi hopes to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he says the average tuition is around $70,000 per year for a master's degree.
For Ahmadi, the qualities that made him stand out beyond his academic excellence were his drive and leadership abilities. These were best demonstrated through his participation in the school's S.H.I.E.L.D. Leadership Program and his role as software lead on Team 3161 Tronic Titans Robotics Team.
Read more here: Holy Trinity high school robotics team to appear at second straight world championships
In addition to these roles, Ahmadi developed an attendance app for S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Robotics Team, which Principal Castellarin says further reflected his leadership qualities.
"This is a student who's been in the country for two and a half years and jumped right in," she said.
Ahmadi attributes the bulk of his success to the guidance he received from his guidance counsellor and S.H.I.E.L.D. lead, Ryan Latimer, his ESL teachers, Zrinjka Reeves and Lindsay Andrews, his robotics lead, Roger Balech, and, of course, his supportive family.
In the long term, Ahmadi hopes to be an entrepreneur in the tech field, but his top priority will be to give back by volunteering at future robotics competitions, a place where he found inspiration and support.
However, his journey of balancing academic success with extracurricular activities was not an easy road. "Some late nights have to be there to balance it," said Ahmadi. "Some parts may not be healthy, but it's up to the person to decide which side of things they want to choose," he continued.
For other students who aspire to achieve this kind of scholarship, Ahmadi says that going above and beyond and starting early is what's most important.
"You have to start early, you have to accumulate your extra curriculars, you have to do more than your extra curriculars, you have to volunteer, you have to have those talking points when you want to write your application because the competition is really high and it's not just your academics that matter," he said.
Said Principal Castellarin, "Those qualities of hard work, dedication, commitment, initiative, is what builds on the natural intellectual and academic ability that Pooria has, he's a highly intelligent young man, but what makes him the success that he is is all the other qualities."