When it comes right down to it, Parker Zhang just wants to make his community - and his country - a better place.
Whether it's through his studies, his community work and extra-curricular activities, or his future career goals, the Grade 12 student at Walnut Grove Secondary School (WGSS) has always been focused on equity and fairness for all.
And it's through than lens that Zhang has applied for a scholarship, worth $100,000, from the Loran Scholars Foundation, which aims to reward students who "have demonstrated their drive to step up in the face of challenges and positively impact their communities across the country."
"I decided to apply for it because I felt like I met all the criteria of developing my leadership skills, being someone with potential, and just framing my high school years around being someone of service and someone who is a role model for younger students," Zhang said.
After the original field of more than 5,200 entrants was whittled down after rounds of essay writing, video entries and video-conference interviews, Zhang, who plans to study political science and economics in university with a goal of becoming a human-rights lawyer, now finds himself one of 90 finalists from across the country. Soon, he will head to Toronto for more interviews with the Loran Foundation, and the top 36 entrants will receive the bursary, which includes funds earmarked for post-secondary tuition, as well as a for a summer project.
What sets his application apart, Zhang hopes, is that he has a clear vision on what he wants to do should he be awarded the scholarship.
Zhang's summer project proposal included him working for the summer in northern Indigenous communities, where he would be able to meet new people and spend time learning firsthand the inequity that exists in many Canadian Indigenous communities.
"The summer program is what I'm looking forward to the most," he said. "I think right now, one of the biggest problems many of those communities have is access to clean drinking water, access to education, things like that."
"I want to make sure that when I become a human-rights lawyer, or one day when I advocate for policy change, that I'm someone who is informed on a topic and someone who has seen first-hand what the issues are," he added. "I think having that experience is going to be so much more powerful for me than if I had just read a report about it or if I'd listened to someone else talk about it."
While he aims to help people in his future career, Zhang has already spent his time at Walnut Grove Secondary helping his fellow students, and since he's been a Gator, he has been a big part of the school community. He has been on student council since Grade 8, editor of the student newspaper since Grade 9, and also runs a humanitarian club, Power in Youth, that helps address food insecurity by hosting food drives and having students volunteer at local food banks and with Meals on Wheels through the school year as well as into the summer.
Zhang is also a member of the school's track-and-field and cross-country teams.
"Parker is an exemplary member of the Walnut Grove Secondary school community. He is committed to learning, is actively engaged in the school and also finds time to contribute to the greater community as well," said WGSS principal Jeremy Lyndon.
"While it is impressive that Parker is involved in so many curricular and extra-curricular activities, it is in his ability to lead and help others grow and learn that is even more impressive."
Outside of school, he is a member of Youth Leaders in Law, which among other things, aims to break down barriers for young people who are interested in law as a profession, but may not have any connections to those already in the field. Among the group's initiatives is an annual conference at UBC's Allard School of Law, in which students are invited to listen to, and speak with, lawyers, professors and judges.
All these experiences have helped him as he has moved through the stages of the Loran Foundation scholarship application.
"It's been a gruelling process but it really helps you think about who you want to be as a person, and it helps you firm up your ideas," he said.
