MANITOWANING—Jocelyn Kuntsi of Manitowaning, who is a Grade 12 student at Manitoulin Secondary School (MSS) is one of 90 students across Canada who has been selected as a 2023 Loran Award finalist. The Loran Award is a four-year leadership enrichment program consisting of summer work experiences, mentorship, scholar gatherings, an annual living stipend and a tuition waiver at one of 25 university partners.
“Yes, it is crazy, I certainly wasn’t expecting to get this far,” Ms. Kuntsi told The Expositor. “I heard about the program from my program director at SHAD this past summer.” The SHAD enrichment program is named after Shad Creek in Southern Ontario for high achieving high school students in Canada and held every summer.
“The Loran Scholars Foundation is delighted to share that Jocelyn Kuntsi, Manitowaning (Manitoulin Secondary School) has been selected as a 2023 Loran finalist and is within the top 1.9 percent of applicants,” a release reads.
“To be in the top 1.9 percent of all applicants is amazing,” said Meghan Moore, chief executive officer of the Loran Scholars Foundation. “Even getting this far is amazing. All of the finalists possess strength of character, care about their community and about uplifting others in their community. And although they are young and might not be full-fledged leaders in their community yet, we hope that through this program they can blossom into these type of leaders in the future.”
“Out of a pool of nearly 4,800 applicants, the 90 graduating high school students selected as Loran finalists for the class of 2023 have demonstrated their drive to step up in the face of challenges and positively impact their communities across the country,” a release states. “One finalist taught himself coding in order to develop an electronic medical record system for volunteers at a hospital in Haiti; another finalist and swim instructor advocated for the addition of French-language swim classes at her YMCA after recognizing the importance of preserving the French language in Manitoba, and another one established ‘Culinary Culture,’ a culinary class for BIPOC to foster meaningful community gatherings in a post-COVID world.”
“The Loran Scholars Foundation identifies students with character; those who believe in pushing boundaries by questioning the status quo, while showing compassion and a commitment to service, seeing a need and making positive change in their own communities. These young people view the world through a lens of curiosity and have leadership qualities they may not even fully realize themselves.”
“Loran’s reflective and thorough selection process, carried out through the work of hundreds of volunteer assessors and interviewers, is designed to uncover the promise and leadership potential in students from the smallest towns to the largest cities across Canada. We look for qualities that grades alone cannot show: a breadth of interest, and deep commitment to service, the courage to make difficult decisions, and the determination to work towards long-term goals.”
Roxy Rae, community engagement and communications officer for Loran told the Expositor, “Jocelyn is captain of the Manitoulin Metal Robotics, leading the environmental movement in the FIRST Robotics community. She serves as Rainbow District School Board student trustee, student senate chair, and works as a lead astronomer at an eco-park. She also continues to make time for music and theatre. Jocelyn is proud to be a Shad alumni, beekeeper and Haweater.”
“We know that such promising young people have the power to change the future for the better, they just need a launchpad and opportunities to grow. This is precisely what we offer Loran Scholars as an enrichment program of leadership development and diverse learning experiences that equip them to create positive change over the course of their lifetimes.”
“Applications for the program opened in September and we had just over 4,700 students apply,” said Ms. Rae.
Ms. Kuntsi explained, “applications were open to everyone in Canada. The application included quite a few questions, and I sent it in, in October. I’ve been through three rounds of the program thus far, the written application, on video when they send a series of questions that we had to answer, and then the semi-finals, where we spent the day taking part in online virtual interviews. We also got to meet some of the other semi-finalists which was great.”
“I will be going to Toronto (this) weekend for two days of in person interviews and to meet other finalists,” Ms. Kuntsi told The Expositor. “Even if I don’t get selected as one of the Loran Scholars, I will be eligible to receive $5,000 for post-secondary studies. Engineering is my program choice for post-secondary school. I know for sure what I want to study, but at this point I don’t know where.”
“Students will be travelling from homes (across Canada) when we welcome them at Loran’s National interview in Toronto on February 24-26, 2023 . After national selections, we will grant up to 36 Loran Awards (valued at over $100,000 each). If not selected as Loran Scholars, the students will each be eligible to receive a $5,000 Loran Finalist Award,” a release indicated.
