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Cambie secondary student Gerardo Mejia is a Loran Award finalist.

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Richmond student a finalist for Loran Award

By Hannah Scott

Published 2:03 PST, Tue February 28, 2023

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Gerardo Mejia, a Grade 12 student at Cambie secondary, is a finalist for the Loran Award.

The Loran Scholars Foundation is a prestigious national award that annually provides 36 Canadian students with over $100,000 in funding over their four-year undergraduate studies, as well as other supports like mentorship, work experience, and scholar gatherings.

Mejia explains that he started the application process early; his older brother missed the opportunity to apply, so the family was on top of the process.

“I had done preliminary research; they had a few templates of previous questions so I used those to start thinking about it,” says Mejia. “They encourage independence, and finding young leaders and people who are involved—basically their core beliefs aligned with mine, and then they help you out tremendously with that independence aspect. They have mentors, they have summer internships, the whole program seemed like the entire package.”

The process as a semi-finalist involved additional elements like questionnaires and an online video submission, Mejia says. Scheduling is flexible, but requires students to be dedicated. While the pandemic has shifted the in-person interviews to an online format, all finalists still travelled to Toronto last weekend with updated protocols in place.

“If you do get COVID prior to or at the event, they have different plans to work around it,” says Mejia. “It’s nice that they’re putting in the effort and making sure everyone’s safe and you can engage with everyone as a team.”

Mejia learned he was named a finalist on his mom’s birthday.

“She said it was the best gift she could have ever received,” he says. “It was just shock, because as you progress your chances statistically get better but you realize you’re competing against the top students in Canada.”

While students are asked about their career goals and which universities they’re interested in during the Loran interview process, there is some flexibility for changing plans. Mejia wants to study medicine to become a cardiothoracic surgeon. He hopes to attend the University of British Columbia or University of Toronto for his undergraduate studies, since both schools have good medical programs for an easy transition after the first four years.

Mejia chairs Cambie’s grad council committee, organizing events for the graduating class and entire school. He’s a keen photographer and baker and also plays the piano, among other extracurriculars.

He also works with the Migrant Workers Ministry, which helps migrant workers coming from places like Mexico and Guatemala. Volunteers host events like soccer games, holiday celebrations, and dinners to make workers feel at home. They also help with tasks like going to the doctor and arranging cellphone plans, to make daily life easier.

“My brother was involved with them (and) the church that I attend was involved. I started young—setting things up, cleaning sometimes, (and) as it progresses you can move up. I’ve helped cook and baked and presented things for dinner. Most recently, I helped drive around care packages house to house.”

Mejia mentions teacher Linda Au as a current mentor, and says she’s been a huge help with the application process as well as demonstrating how career paths can shift—initially she had a passion for zoology, but became a teacher, Mejia says. He’s also appreciated guidance and advice from his parents and other family members; his aunt is a nurse who arranged shadow shifts for Mejia at the hospital.

Going through high school during the pandemic has emphasized the importance of connection for Mejia and his peers. It’s also created a bit of a backlog, requiring students to catch up on missed learning.

“University wants you to have high grades and extracurriculars, so if nothing is open what do you do? It helped people think outside the box—you see so many young teens do so many things during COVID; people want to help, they want to be part of something,” says Mejia. “It helped people take initiative to be creative, and realize that when you’re at school it’s your responsibility and not necessarily your teachers’.”

Mejia’s advice to others is to do things they’re passionate about.

“Trying to fill out your resume just so it looks good is harder than to do something you actually like. If you’re not passionate about it, it’s 10 times harder and you won’t have the passion to speak about these things,” says Mejia.

“Even if I don’t make it in the finals, I’ve made it to Toronto, I’ve spoken to so many people, connected with students from across Canada, and connected with alumni. Just try, and you never know where you’ll end up.”

Since 2015, four Richmond students have been named Loran Scholars: Bonnie Zhang (Palmer secondary) in 2015, Cole Longer and Leon Picha (McNair secondary) in 2019, and Leilani Pearson (Boyd secondary) in 2020.