VIDEO: Aspiring to make a difference – scholarship makes it possible

by Elizabeth Chernyshova/Special to Black Press Media

Being outgoing, yet unassuming and eager has paid off significantly for a local high school student.

Aspiring software engineer Evan Dyce was recently gifted $80,000 to help make his future dreams a reality.

Every year, students across Canada apply for the Schulich Leader Scholarship. This time around, Dyce – who is involved in all of the leadership activities Aldergrove Community Secondary School (ACSS), is the recipient.

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“First thing I did was I tried to call my brother, and he didn’t pick up. He was in the class because he goes to UBC,” Dyce said about his initial reaction to the scholarship news.

“I called my dad. He didn’t pick up. And, I called my mom – because I was going crazy, as I had to tell somebody – and my mom picked up. So she was the first person I told about it, and she was pretty excited,” he shared.

Dyce is part of the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program at his school, which helps students like him explore their goals and how to achieve them. Students start the program in Grade 9, where they start to learn planning skills that will sculpt their future, explained AVID instructor Ashley Ross.

“The program really encourages students in AVID to be self advocates, and to put their names out there, and to try. And a lot of our students in Grade 12s are encouraged to apply for different scholarships,” she elaborated.

Evan took all of the lessons to heart, and he was able to apply that independently, Ross said.

“Evan was always so genuine and earnest, and he was really kind and inclusive, and just wanted to make a difference, and he has always been really driven.”

Another AVID teacher, Tamara Brenie, describes Dyce as a perfect candidate for the Schulich Leader Scholarship.

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“He is so self-motivated, and I never had to tell him to apply for a scholarship. He automatically searched for them and applied for so many of them,” Brenie said.

ACCS principal Mike Palichuk described Dyce as a star student, who was always quick to take on leadership initiatives and who played a significant role as a student council co-president for a long time.

“He is a very humble student, and he is certainly a student who wants to make a difference,” continued Palichuk.

“He does his best, but he is kind of unassuming. He doesn’t really go out of the way, and doesn’t try to brag about himself,” added the principal.

Dyce is still a few months from graduating, but he plans to take advantage of his scholarship and attend Simon Fraser University to study computer science.

“My dream job, right now, it’s probably just like software engineering. Ideally, I want to be able to make a difference, as cliche as it sounds. But, I want to be able to use technology to do stuff to impact,” Dyce said about his future plans.

Apart from participating in various leadership initiatives through school, Dyce played various sports growing up, including curling for a few years. He was involved on a school soccer team, and on the community front he played ball hockey and baseball.

Reflecting on his scholarship win and his approach to his future, he encouraged others to envision their future and go for it – whatever challenges lie in their paths.

“Just try and find something that you like and find something that you enjoy doing – even if it’s not in the school. Just find it, and kind of let that take you along your way,” Dyce concluded.

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