CANMORE – Adrianna Domingo decided to take a gap year before attending university after the COVID-19 pandemic switched in-person learning to virtual.
The year off was worth it.
Not only was she able to add work experience to her resume, but it gave her time to apply for scholarships and ultimately receive the Ena Lee Leaders in Business Scholarship from the University of Calgary.
“I was super excited. If I didn’t take a gap year, I never would have got anything,” said the 18-year-old Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Academy graduate of the scholarship that pays $80,000 over four years.
“I was so happy. It’s not even about the money. It was more about all the hard work I did in high school amounted to something. It felt great.”
When she completed her Grade 12 year, her busy schedule of preparing for university, sports, clubs and school left little time for applying for awards. The gap year gave her extra freedom to apply for scholarships at the University of Calgary before the end of 2020.
A call in March awarded her the Chancellor’s Scholarship for $50,000 due to her contribution to the school, the community, leadership and volunteerism as well as a higher than 90 per cent grade average. Domingo also received the President’s Admission Scholarship for $5,000 for entering with an average above 95 per cent.
She later got a call to interview for separate scholarships, including with the dean of the Haskayne School of Business. Shortly afterwards, she received a call informing her she got the distinguished scholarship, which recognizes leadership and academic ability.
However, the university only allows either the Ena Lee Leaders in Business Scholarship or the Chancellor’s Scholarship to be accepted.
Domingo said the university was interested in her well-rounded time as a student, which included athletics, student council, participating on mission trips and competing at the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition in Boston. The school’s synthetic biology club received the chairman’s award in 2018 at the event.
OLS has been a scholarship factory when it comes to graduating students.
Domingo also helped her family create the Hope for Hospitality initiative that raised funds to provide $100 food cards to laid-off workers. The program partners with Tourism Canmore Kananaskis and Our Lady of the Rockies Parish.
She is the latest to receive a prestigious scholarship to attend university.
Jenna Murphy received the Schulich Leader Scholarship – worth $100,000 and among the most sought after in Canada – last year to attend engineering at the University of Calgary. Elian Dupre Sarmiento earned the same scholarship in 2019, while Alina Arvisais received an $80,000 Schulich Scholarship in 2017 to study biochemistry at the University of Waterloo.
Murphy, Domingo, Sarmiento and six others were part of the synthetic biology club that won the Chairman’s Award.
“I love my school. They have amazing staff and really caring teachers who helped me a ton,” Domingo said. “Whether it was with academics or just helping me manage everything I was doing, it’s a very supportive environment.
“They care a lot about getting everyone into a university and helping them figure out what they want to do. I definitely missed it in the gap year, but I cannot recommend my school enough for how much much they helped me to get out my comfort zone and work hard at things I care about.”
Domingo will attend the University of Calgary in the fall at the Haskayne School of Business for a general business degree and decide later if she wants to specialize in a specific faculty.
“I'm still unsure about my faculty and what I want to do, but I know I want to complete the degree and do something that will help people," she said. "I’ve done a couple of mission trips and I love working with others and solve problems to help individuals and communities I live in.”
