When Sophia Sangiuliano, 17, took some time to put together a scholarship application – about a week before the deadline – she realized just how far she has come through her high school journey.
“We were kind of blown away,” said her dad, Frank Sangiuliano, “it put things into perspective.”
Sophia remembers sitting in the chair across from the guidance councillor at Our Lady of the Bay Catholic High School. She was told about the tight deadline but that she would be a great fit for the Loran Scholarship.
She and her dad shared a glance and a smile, that’s when Frank Sangiuliano knew that Sophia was invested in the challenge.
“She sets her mind to something and just goes for it,” he said.
Sophia was one of 6,000 people from across Canada who applied for the scholarship and is now one of 90 finalists. Of the finalists, 36 will be chosen as Loran scholars.
The Loran Award looks beyond academics and finalists demonstrate a strength of character, a deep commitment to service, and exceptional leadership potential. Those who are selected as a Loran scholar will be part of a four-year leadership-enrichment program, will receive financial support for undergraduate studies for tuition and living expenses, plus mentorship and other experiential learning opportunities.
Sophia said that the process has been an amazing experience. Her joy and excitement are hard to miss.
“You can just hear in her voice when she speaks, how passionate she is,” said her mom Robynne Sangiuliano.
The tight schedule to apply did not deter Sophia. Between school hours, working, community service, and extracurricular activities, she found and dedicated her time to do what was necessary.
By the time she made it to the quarter-finals she had to submit three, one minute videos.
“It was nerve-wracking at the start because I didn’t know what to expect, you don’t have a lot of time to prepare. They prompt you with a question and you go right into it,” she said.
Throughout the application process Sophia has drawn from her community involvement, her passions, and her academic goals. She realized that her love for visual art and painting could be applied to the world of engineering and robotics.
With a profound passion to create and innovate she made it to the top 1.5 per cent of applicants.
“I got to dive into my values and learn a lot about myself in the process, reflect on everything I’ve done and make a global statement,” she said.
Through a school program, she raised funds and travelled to Toronto to donate to Sick Kids. Her dad explained that from that moment, at the age of 10, Sophia wanted to do more. She maintains a drive to volunteer throughout the community.
At thirteen she was involved with Project Butterfly, a community fridge at the Collingwood Youth Centre.
Another artist in the family – her mom – helped 11-year old Sophia create her own Etsy shop, which is still running today.
Knowing that she loved the arts and encouraged to pursue her dreams, Sophia painted a mural for her high school music room and was convinced her career would be in the arts world.
By grade 10 she was more curious and despite initial apprehension followed a friend’s suggestion to join the robotics course.
“I didn’t think it would be the right thing for me. But, stepping out of my comfort zone has been such a prominent thing for me and led me to so many new roles, so I fell in love with robotics,” she said.
Her love to create branched into a love for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). This correlation led Sophia to join a First Robotics Competition (FRC) team, they compete annually.
With nine members, she described her team as small by comparison to others. Over a six-week period they build a 125-pound robot to compete in a game.
“It’s amazing to see how far we can go, last year we competed in Pittsburg, it’s so much fun to be exposed to all these new experiences,” said Sophia about her FRC experience.
She has now been involved in building the robot, the computer-aided design (CAD) modelling for it, she coordinated with sponsors connecting her team with businesses, and this year is learning to program the robot.
In order to apply for the Loran Scholarship, Sophia needed to name a non-family member as a referee. She chose her grade 10 biology and robotics teacher who also leads the robotics club at her high school, John Michalenko.
“He has helped me so much with my journey in STEM and it’s been such an amazing opportunity to learn from him and try out so many new things,” Sophia expressed.
With passion, grit, and the support of her family and friends, Sophia will spend February 21-23 in Toronto for the national selections.
For her, coming this far was meaningful and enriching, she is excited regardless of what comes next on her journey.