A student of the Centre for Learning@Home in Okotoks has received a hefty scholarship.

Tomas Walter is the recipient of a $100,000 Schulich scholarship and is the first nominee from his school.

He says when he first applied, it was pretty much on a whim.

"I never really knew a lot about it, so when my school announced it, I thought I might as well give it a try, there was really nothing to lose. I applied in about November, and a couple weeks to months later the school nominated me, I applied for the Schulich, and then I heard in about mid-April that I'd actually won it."

Walter initially missed the phone call telling him he'd be the recipient of the scholarship, but that gave him the opportunity to replay the message for his father.

"I was basically speechless. I went and played it in front of my dad and his face changed all of a sudden because I hadn't said a word until that. It was a pretty great day."

He says the scholarship is intended to aid students in a certain field.

"The Schulich Foundation, they're really looking for people that are really entrepreneurial-minded in the STEM fields, so science, technology, engineering, and math. I have a robotics background so I think that was the standout for me."

Walter competed in the FIRST Tech Challenge of Alberta for several years, taking home a design award in his grade 11 year.

He's headed to the University of Alberta this fall to study engineering.

 

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