Student Spotlight: Pari Patel
August 8, 2023
Are you an international student looking for a way to help fund your education at Virtual High School? Check out our International Student Bursary! Designed to help students outside of Canada overcome financial barriers, the International Student Bursary is now in its second year of operation, and we couldn’t be more proud of the students we’ve been able to support in their academic journeys. Let’s take a look at one of last year’s bursary recipients to see how she has been making the most of her time at VHS and paying the kindness forward in her own life!
Born in the small village of Damnagar, Grade 12 student Pari Patel now lives in Ahmedabad in India with her mother and father. As a lifelong resident of India, Pari is grateful to have grown up in an area that has such varied and rich heritage, and she’s dedicated to finding ways that she can give back to her community to help the next generation. After learning about the United Nations and UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund), Pari became a volunteer with the organization so that she could bring change to her area through various children’s programs, mental health awareness programs, and climate action campaigns.
In addition to her humanitarian efforts, Pari is also a remarkably dedicated student who loves to participate in interschool championships, debates, student research projects, and competitions.
In fact, Pari won second prize in this year’s Global Youth Challenge Essay and Speech Competition! You can watch her submission on climate change and the future of our world on the GYC 2023 website. When she’s not too busy changing the world for the better, Pari finds time for some of her favourite activities: reading, watching documentaries, spending time with family and friends, stargazing, and dancing.
So what does an amazing human like Pari want to do for a career? First, she’d like to complete an undergraduate program in nursing or neuroscience in Canada. Though her ultimate goal is to become a medical doctor, she wants to take a more unconventional path by studying, volunteering, and working in other areas of healthcare first to become a more well-rounded professional.When she discovered that she would require a math prerequisite for most nursing programs in Canada, Pari stumbled upon Virtual High School through her discussions with university recruitment teams and help desks.
After learning about VHS and how the courses work, I was just so relieved that there is still a chance for me to get into a Canadian university and study the subjects I want. So I looked into the math courses provided by VHS, contacted different universities about it, and finally decided to take the MHF4U course—designed perfectly for students like me to check all the boxes for university applications.”
When considering where she’d like to attend university in Canada one day, Pari and her parents became concerned about how to finance her education as an international student. Although they have been diligently setting aside money, it has been difficult to recover from the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is unfortunately an all too familiar reality for many families, both domestically and internationally, but Virtual High School hopes to help at least some students with our bursaries and scholarships program.
The International Student Bursary has been like a ray of hope for my parents and a motivation for me to work a little harder every day and give my best in school, academics, and extracurriculars here in my home country so as to achieve my goal and to study in Canada after high school.”
Having chosen a pathway in biology in India, it was tricky for Pari to earn a math credit in her high school since students must often choose one subject or the other (rather than both). While biology will always remain Pari’s true love, she has come to enjoy math at VHS too.
Taking the math course from VHS has been one of the best learning experiences I have ever had, from technical support to the tutoring and quick responses from the best of teachers … No matter how many times I want to understand a topic again, I am just a few clicks away.”
Over this next year, Pari will be busy with her Grade 12 courses, applying to university for early admission, and completing her visa application process. She’s looking forward to making memories with her parents and high school friends in India before she travels to a new home and life in Canada.
But most importantly, 5 years from now, I would want to be a person who’s true and grateful, a student who has come a long way and has made personal growth, and a daughter whose parents are proud of her.”
To learn more about the VHS International Student Bursary and how you can apply, visit the Bursaries and Scholarships page on our website.