Gerardo Mejia has wanted to be a doctor since he was very young.
He decided already in elementary school that he wanted to be a cardiothoracic surgeon.
However, now looking at the state of health care and the lack of primary care physicians, he’s starting to lean toward family medicine.
“As you go through life, things shift,” Mejia told the Richmond News.
And he has now received a significant financial boost to help him in his education.
The Grade 12 Cambie secondary student has received the $100,000 Loran Scholarship from the Loran Scholars Foundation to pursue his post-secondary education.
Mejia praised the foundation, saying it does more than just give money to support students in their education. It “finds people who have good potential and supports (them) way beyond the financial.”
The process to apply for the Loran Scholarship was rigorous, with a written application, a video submission and a Zoom interview.
Ninety finalists were then invited to Toronto for final interviews after which 36 were chosen as Loran Scholars with Mejia making the final cut.
Mejia is weighing his options on which university to go to this fall.
On the one hand, he’d like to go to UBC, but the Loran Scholars Foundation encourages independence, and this might be better achieved going to McGill University or the University of Toronto.
But, wherever he ends up, he believes he’ll get a good education in any of Canada’s universities.
Mejia grew up in an immigrant family and he believes this, and his faith, has shaped his pathway in life.
While many immigrant families push their children to be high achievers – going into careers like law and medicine – Mejia’s mother always maintained he decided on his own he wanted to be a doctor.
His parents, Iliana and Milton, are from El Salvador, and his father’s experience living through that country’s civil war made a deep impression on him.
They came to Canada for a better life.
“I feel like I’m fulfilling what they initiated,” Mejia said of his parents’ aspirations.
When Mejia got the call about being a Loran Scholar semifinalist on his mother’s birthday, she said it was the best birthday gift she’d received.
His parents have been his biggest supporters, he explained.
“The older I get, the more I appreciate the great job they did,” he said, although he added he’s had encouragement and support from school as well.
Mejia is involved on grad council as well as the school first-responder team – he’s the captain – who are first on scene if there’s a medical emergency at school.
Giving back to his community is something he learned from his family.
The Mejia family has been involved for several years helping migrant workers – many of whom come from South and Central America – to feel at home during the half year they spend here working largely in agriculture.
This includes making meals during the holidays – Mejia’s contribution at times has been baking pastries - and helping them navigate bureaucracy and social life in Canada.
