When Giuseppe Fasciani got the call, his heart skipped a beat.
The Grade 12 Queen Elizabeth Secondary student learned he is the latest recipient of a $40,000 scholarship from the Cmolik Foundation, an organization that provides financial relief and opportunities for youth who have experienced adversity to pursue education.
Grade 12 Queen Elizabeth Secondary student Giuseppe Fasciani is the latest recipient of a $40,000 scholarship from the Cmolik Foundation. Fasciani intends to study accounting at SFU's Beedie School of Business.
"I couldn't believe it," he said. "I went to my parents and said, 'Guess who won a scholarship from the Cmolik Foundation?' They were like, 'No, you're lying' - it took so long to make them believe me.
"It feels like a dream."
Growing up, Fasciani faced poverty after his father lost his job due to a car accident, causing his family to rely on food banks and charities, and making joining elementary soccer teams unaffordable. He was also bullied for having a speech impediment and wearing hand-me-down clothing.
"I come from a low-income immigrant household," he said. "My father was our main source of income, and that forced him into early retirement.
"I had to deal with a lot of these adversities in life, but luckily, I think I prevailed overall."
Despite these challenges, he pushed himself in all aspects of life. He excelled in his schooling, started QE's chess club, pursued his passion for sports on the secondary soccer team and took up volunteering. He regularly offers his time, working with such programs as Jumpstart in Whalley.
"It made me value giving back to the community," he said. "A lot of these people had dealt with adversity like me."
His endless hard work, philanthropy, and community and family values ultimately lined up with those of the Cmolik Foundation, making him a perfect candidate for the scholarship.
"All of his success and hard work has come from his own drive and perseverance to overcome adversity himself," said Jeremy Lendvoy, a counsellor at QE who sponsored Fasciani's scholarship nomination and has known him since Grade 8. "The beauty is that he has done so successfully and he is now ready to take the next step in his future and inevitably give back to help other kids who grow up in similar environments to his."
With his sights on post-secondary, Fasciani - whose top courses include economics, accounting and entrepreneurship - intends to study accounting at Simon Fraser University's Beedie School of Business to become a chartered professional accountant.
"I was originally going to take a gap year because it would have been really hard to afford it, but given the scholarship, I'm definitely able to attend SFU and continue into my career," he said.
Ever humble and grateful, Fasciani said none of this would be possible without his teachers, mentors and peers, nor the generosity of the Cmolik Foundation.
"I'd like to thank Surrey Schools, all the teachers at Queen Elizabeth Secondary, all the counsellors and fellow students that really shaped who I am today, and the Cmolik Foundation for everything they've done for not just me but for hundreds of students," he said. "I appreciate all the work they've done in our lives to make our community better."
