{"id":10057,"date":"2015-03-11T18:12:55","date_gmt":"2015-03-11T22:12:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=10057"},"modified":"2015-03-11T18:12:55","modified_gmt":"2015-03-11T22:12:55","slug":"early-adversity-helped-local-teen-and-scholar-rise-to-the-occasion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/early-adversity-helped-local-teen-and-scholar-rise-to-the-occasion\/","title":{"rendered":"Early adversity helped local teen and scholar \u201crise to the occasion\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

When Sabrina Lin moved from Taiwan to Canada in Grade 4, life was tough and money was sparse.<\/p>\n

Their first home here was a tiny basement apartment, admittedly \u201cnot that great of an environment to grow up in.\u201d They moved seven times, Sabrina had to re-integrate herself into several different schools, neighbourhoods, and groups of friends, all the while learning English.<\/p>\n

An exceptional student, Sabrina, now a Grade 12 student at Aurora High School, took to the new language well, and was soon a vital link for her family. <\/p>\n

\u201cI did whatever I could to help out my family with cell phone bills, electricity bills, help around the house, and apply for official documents,\u201d she says. \u201cThat definitely helped me grow, mature and have a more mature perspective on life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taking a page from these early life lessons, Sabrina has dedicated her high school life to improving the lives of the people around her.<\/p>\n

For her efforts, Sabrina was named one of just two York Region scholars, and one of 14 across Ontario, to receive a $5,000 scholarship from the Horatio Alger Association of Canada. Nearly 3,500 students from across Canada applied for the scholarship, which is available to Ontario students who \u201chave demonstrated integrity and perseverance in overcoming adversity, as well as strength of character, a good academic record, and a commitment to pursue higher education, and a desire to contribute to society.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt warms my heart to see so many young people who, even after having gone through very difficult periods in their lives, work with great determination to pursue their dreams,\u201d said former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, a member of the Horatio Alger Association, in a statement. <\/p>\n

As a student with a 97.14 per cent average, an executive on the school\u2019s Relay for Life committee, a member of Aurora High School\u2019s Year Book Committee, Red and Gold volunteer committee, which links students with volunteer opportunities within the community, the school\u2019s Journalism Club, and a founding member of the Town of Aurora\u2019s Youth Engagement Committee, Sabrina certainly ticked all the boxes for the Horatio Alger Association. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe see a lot of things that can be changed in the world and as someone living in Aurora, I am a teenager with not too many responsibilities,\u201d she says. \u201cI feel I am privileged and it is my responsibility to contribute whatever I can to the community. I grew up without that much, so growing up in a more difficult background I know how lucky I am to be where I am today. I just do whatever I can with the free time I have to make a difference.\u201d
\nBut, where does she get the time?<\/p>\n

\u201cI never sleep!\u201d she jokes. <\/p>\n

Taking on these committees within the school and the larger committee, including leadership responsibilities, gives Sabrina the opportunity to \u201clearn and grow\u201d, she says, and this was a skill that put her in good stead adjusting to so many different elementary schools as a youngster.<\/p>\n

Helping her parents persevere in their new lives in Canada served as an early lesson in the power of one individual to make a difference, and what the individual can do when they truly set their minds to something.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost kids aren\u2019t put in that position and I was able to rise to the occasion,\u201d she says. \u201cNow, I feel like if I set my mind to something and I want to accomplish something, I have the strong belief I am able to do that. That is what my parents taught me and what my experience has taught me. Embrace every opportunity you get. There are so many opportunities out there, whether they are scholarships, jobs, or leadership positions. You just have to do your research, work hard and, most importantly, be willing to fail once in a while. <\/p>\n

\u201cI almost didn\u2019t apply for this scholarship because I honestly didn\u2019t think I had a chance of winning. I convinced myself to go for it anyways, and I guess you could say I am pretty glad I did! Always be willing to take chances because eventually one of them is going to pay off. Amongst the potential pool of \u2018no\u2019s will be a \u2018yes\u2019 \u2013 and that yes will make everything worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Sabrina Lin moved from Taiwan to Canada in Grade 4, life was tough and money was sparse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10032,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-2Cd","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-10-06 10:09:29","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/2015-03-12-03.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}