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Student hones in on national heritage award

A local high school student is in the running for a national award for a history project on Canadian heritage.
Heritage Kid
Vedanshi Vala is up for a national award. Photo submitted

A local high school student is in the running for a national award for a history project on Canadian heritage.

Grade 9 student Vedanshi Vala is one of a select few students across Canada to be in the running for a Canadian Heritage award for its Young Citizens Heritage Fair contest. And she needs your help to win.

Vedanshi created a video on the late Dr. Wilder Penfield, a Canadian medical pioneer.

“He contributed greatly towards Canada, placing on the world stage in the field of medicine and science. Several of his notable advances include the invention of electrical stimulation of the brain (ESB), as well as mapping of many regions of the human brain,” said Vendashi, noting ESB has given “the gift of life” to many Canadians as it’s a method of neurosurgery used on patients today.

“The most interesting fact that I learned about my topic is that Dr. Wilder Penfield’s sister suffered from epilepsy, and his inability to cure her, even though he was a medical professional, motivated him greatly,” said Vedanshi.

Through studying Penfield’s accomplishments, Vedanshi said she’s learned what it takes to be disciplined and dedicated to a goal.

“Even though Dr. Penfield faced many hurdles in his path to success, he did not allow them to drag him down. Instead, he worked even harder, and with even more diligence,” said Vedanshi.

The young French student is asking Richmondites to log in to YoungCitizens.ca and search her name in the catalogue, in order to watch and vote for her video, in which she takes on the role of Penfield by wearing a white lab coat. 

Vedanshi got her start at the Richmond Heritage Festival two years ago, when she documented the history of rapid transit in Metro Vancouver. There, she was twice awarded the Stellar Achievement Award for Outstanding Project.

Now, she volunteers as an alumnus at the regional heritage fair council, and is also representing her region at the provincial level.

Voting concludes July 11. The top six winners, out of 150 regional winners, will win a trip to Ottawa to attend the Governor General’s History Awards.