Members of the Rotary Club of Parksville AM extend their heartfelt congratulations to My Huy Lim, winner of a $100,000 Schulich Leader Scholarship which will support her pursuit of an engineering degree at the University of Victoria this fall.
My Huy Lim came to Canada at age 13 as an exchange student from Vietnam, becoming a permanent resident in Grade 10. It was a decision made with the encouragement of her mother who felt that she would have a better chance at getting a good education and a promising start in life by completing her schooling here. My Huy's brother and sister now also attend school in Canada. Her mother is still living in Vietnam and is delighted at her daughter’s success, and proud of her dedication and commitment to academic excellence, leadership and volunteerism.
My Huy is Co-president of the Ballenas Interact Club in 2020-21 and has been a member for the past three years. In 2020, she was one of four students to join Rotary Team Mexico for a build with Live Different.
My Huy willingly took on any task, despite the fact that she had never done anything in construction before. She learned how to use all the power tools and in fact, became the "go to" person on the circular saw where she skillfully cut plywood for the exterior walls and roof panels.
My Huy has maintained a straight "A" standing through all her years at Ballenas, currently holding an average of 98% while completing the most difficult science and math courses at the Grade 11 and 12 level. During the past year, she has been working with other students on a project to build a drone for testing air quality, particularly methane gas levels.
The Schulich Leader Scholarship Fund awards scholarships to entrepreneurial-minded high school graduates from across Canada who are enrolling in a science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) program at one of 20 partner universities, of which the University of Victoria is one. Each year, one hundred students are selected out of 1500 nominees from 300,000 candidates.
The Schulich Leader Scholarship Fund was established in 2012 by businessman and philanthropist Seymour Schulich in recognition of the increasing importance and impact that STEM disciplines will have on the prosperity of future generations.
My Huy is the fifth student from Ballenas Secondary to win the scholarship since its creation in 2012. A student from the school has won in 2012, 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021.
In 2012, the award was won by Kyle Wamer, a Rotary Youth Exchange Student and in 2018 by Spencer Hancock, also a Ballenas Interact student and son to Parksville AM Rotarian, Kim Hancock.
The home was established in 1983 by local Catholic priests. The property is dear to the heart of Oscar Gonzales Garcia who was an altar boy in the Church while growing up, spent much time assisting with maintenance of the building, has been Manager of the home since 2017, and is shown in the photo at left.
The San Carlos Rotary Club was founded in 1985, and consists primarily of English-speaking winter season homeowners, as well as a core group of permanent residents.
The first phase of the project, at a cost of $32,500 US, focused on repairing one of the undeveloped wings, so that additional seniors could be accommodated as quickly as possible.
For the first time, an adequate heating and cooling system was added, and upgraded kitchen appliances installed in the center core.
This phase is now complete, and more residents are being welcomed.
Service Above Self
Parksville, BC V9P 2H5
Canada