Jun. 19, 2018
Jolie G., a Grade 9 student at Tom Baines School, has her sights set on a future in law. She wants to graduate with an LLM (Master of Laws) degree and become a barrister. She has already taken steps toward this goal: an avid member of the Debate and Speech team, participating in Model UN, Scholar’s Cup, and various other extracurricular activities.
Jolie can now add a couple of other accolades to her growing list. She won first place at Law Day, defending the resolution: “Be it resolved that the Me Too movement has been instrumental in bringing awareness to the pervasiveness of sexual assault and violence in our society.” She competed against 65 competitors and won $200. As Jolie herself says, “An essential lesson of life is learning to fend for yourself and fight for what you believe in, even if you are alone.”
Most recently, Jolie took second place honours and $350 in the Alberta Champions essay-writing contest. Jolie wrote about one of her heroes, activist Ruth Gorman. Gorman encouraged change so that we could all be considered one united nation. Jolie believes that it is the responsibility of her generation to encourage growth and equality. She calls Gorman an “Unsung hero.” Jolie can relate to Ruth Gorman, as she is also someone who likes to work diligently behind the scenes. Jolie says, “If you truly are passionate about an issue, it’s not about the recognition—it’s about creating change.” Congratulations to an amazing CBE student!
