Organic vegetable, herb, and pollinator garden​
In the spring of 2021, I started volunteering in the gorgeous, sustainable vegetable garden and pollinator garden at St. Cuthbert’s Church. This then turned into years of spring and summer months, mornings spent maintaining and caring for the garden.
I did not know it then, but I was about to build profound connections to the people and ecosystems around me, shaping my perspectives on the community impact of organic growing and native pollinators. In the classroom, I study the scale of global ecological change, but in the garden, I experience the local and tangible.
I am grateful that I can reconnect and reflect on my experiences in the garden; reminding myself of my relationship with the local environment and the beauty I want future generations to see, feel, and taste just like me.
A very happy note: this garden is watered using rain collected by installed cisterns, and no pesticides are used in the garden.
Giving Back, fresh donations
In one of the summers, I helped to harvest tons of fresh produce worth over $5000. This produce has been donated to Flemingdon Food Bank, providing the community with tasty and nutritious groceries every Monday and Wednesday.
Acknowledgments of my sustainability impact
National LiveBright Scholarship Recipient
Issued by Sun Life Financial
The LiveBright Scholarship is awarded to five students. I was chosen as I demonstrate leadership in my community and take intitive with issues around climate, diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Canada's Forest Trust Scholarship Recipient
Issued by Canada's Forest Trust
I was selected as a Canada's Forest Trust Scholarship recipient. My video submission was chosen in which I illustrated and narrated a lesson on why we must be planting forests and not just single trees, and why we should reflect on indigenous perspectives and relationships with forests.
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Honourable Mention - International Ocean Awareness Contest
Issued by Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Programs​
​I wrote and illustrated a children's book called "Flora the Fish and the Plastic Plight." I was chosen as one of the winners. In my book, I wanted to take a satirical approach and draw parallels between the human world of fast fashion and fast food and the underwater world, representing how our toxic and dangerous trends and behaviours seep into aquatic ecosystems. The winners were chosen among thousands of applicants from around the world.
2024, 2025, Platinum Sustainable Student
Issued by the Sustainability Office at the University of Toronto