How I Won the Terry Fox Humanitarian Award

McMaster University, integrated biomedical engineering and health sciences
Terry Fox Humanitarian Award
$28,000

I have bad eyesight, which was an issue when I played basketball growing up. In Canada, we can easily get glasses or contacts but, in many parts of the world, that’s not the case. In Grade 11, my friends and I started a non-profit called 20/20 Mission to match unused glasses with those in need and we partner with other organizations to distribute them. I’ve travelled to Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and Fort McKay First Nation in northern Alberta with our glasses. 

I first applied for the Terry Fox Humanitarian Award in Grade 12, but I didn’t make it to the interview round. I applied to 30 schools in Canada and the U.S. and, during that process, I learned a lot about myself and how to communicate my story. I decided to apply for the scholarship again in December of my first year at McMaster, where I now study. I wrote a 1,250-word essay about how I’d been able to demonstrate humanitarian impact through 20/20 Mission. I also submitted three reference letters and a list of extracurricular activities. I was one of about 60 people selected for regional interviews. In the interviews, they asked a lot of questions to find out who I was as a person, not who I was as a student, an athlete or a volunteer. 

I found out in May that I won and, in June, they flew the winners to Ottawa so we could all meet. We’ve had monthly video calls since. As part of the award, we’re expected to continue doing humanitarian work. I’ve started the ElevAsian All-Star Showcase in Vancouver, where I’m from. It brings together 40 of the top Asian high school basketball players, boys and girls, and features them in an all-star game. I faced a lot of discrimination playing basketball as an Asian kid and I hope to inspire a younger generation of Asian basketball players.

This story appears in the 2026 edition of the Ultimate Guide to Canadian Universities. You can buy the issue for $19.99 here or on newsstands.