2013 Recipients

B.E.S.T. Project Fund

Emilie Bowles

Emilie is a third year Double Major in Education and Social Studies with an average of 90%. She is from Montreal and her project involves participating in a Northern Field course through Trent University’s Canadian Studies Department. Emilie intends to perform her 13-week fourth year B.Ed. practicum with the Cree School Board and thereafter obtain a Master’s Degree in Indigenous Studies.

Sonam Choekyi Dekhang

Sonam is a third year Education student with an average of 82.99%. Originally from a Tibetan refugee settlement in North India, she has now made Sherbrooke her new home. Her project titled “the HeArts Project” involves working with recently arrived Tibetan refugee children in India. She will be implementing a series of therapeutic creative arts activities focusing on laying down the fundamental base for acquiring oral and written English/Tibetan language skills, and preparing these children to meet his/her personal, school and social needs in their new environment. Sonam’s future plans include teaching young children in remote regions of Northern Canada, India, Nepal, Korea and Africa and working with children who are often “lost” between the urges to succeed and preserving their ethnic and cultural background.

Andrei Fasola

Andrei is a third year Drama student with an average of 81%. He is from Montreal and his project is to write, direct and produce a short film. His intention is to submit his film at international film festivals such as the Cannes, Sundance or Berlin Film Festivals – to name a few. Andrei wants to be a filmmaker.

Katelyn LeClair

Katelyn is a fourth year Business student who is doing a double major in Human Resources and General Management with a minor in Psychology with an average of 81%.  She is from South Mountain, Ontario and her project consists of developing an orientation program for faculty and staff at Bishop’s University. Katie is passionate about Human Resources and more specifically about selection and training.  That is the field she intends to work in.

Tegan Maharaj

Tegan is in her first year of a Master’s degree in Computer Science, having completed a B.A. in Environmental Studies and a B. Sc in Biology where she finished with a 90.17% average. She is originally from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia but Sherbrooke is now her home. She will be attending the 2013 Genetic and Evolutionary computation (GECCO), the largest international conference on nature-inspired computation. Upon completing her Master’s degree, Tegan intends to pursue a doctorate.

Catherine Paquette

Catherine Paquette is a second year International Political Economy Honours student with a Major in Economics. She has an average of 82.60%. Her project consists of participating in the Washington Center D.C. Internship Experience at the Washington Centre in the 2013 summer.

Caitlin Porter

Caitlin is a third year Biology student, minoring in psychology, and has an average of 77.43%.  She is from Sherbrooke and her project consists of doing a research internship in a leading cell biology laboratory at the University of Alberta.  She would like to pursue a Master’s degree at the University of Alberta and her desired career pathway is to become a researcher.

Scott Potter

Scott is a first year French and Classics student with an average of 80%. He is from Auburn, Maine and his project is to spend six weeks with the Paideia Institute in Rome where he will be in Latin immersion, using it as a language of living communication. Scott hopes to go on and get a Master’s in teaching Latin from the University of Kentucky after graduating from Bishop’s and then find a position as a Latin teacher in a High School.

Rylan Schwarze

Rylan is a second year Business Administration (Entrepreneurship concentration) student with a Major in Arts Administration (Drama concentration). He has an average of 88.41% and is from Brockville, Ontario. His project is a summer tour across the provinces of Ontario and Quebec with his company, Ry Guy Magic. He will be performing magic and circus stage shows at various schools, fairs, festivals and camps. Rylan hopes that this experience will help him to attain a future internship with Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas, NV, where he could then focus on his ultimate goal of taking Ry Guy Magic to a Las Vegas stage.

Hannah Shucard

Hannah is a third year Applied Psychology student with an average of 83.38%. She is from Point Roberts, Washington and her project entails an independent research project in Malawi on an issue of psychological health that is relevant to the lives of the local population, mainly rural villagers. Hannah hopes to do research at the graduate level as her aim is to obtain a Ph.D. in Psychology.

Andres Zambrano

Andres is a first year Master’s Student in Physics with an average of 82.5%. He was born in Zipaquira, Colombia but has lived a nomadic life throughout the world.  His project consists of attending a conference called Encuentros Relativistas Espanoles 2013 in Benasque, Spain and the 2013 CAP Congress at Université de Montreal in order to further his research in cosmology and general relativity as well as help him to address certain questions relating to evolving black hole & cosmological horizons. Upon the completion of his Master’s, he intends to pursue a doctorate degree.

Sarah Zwierzchowski

Sarah is a second year Honours History student with an average of 86.78%. She is from Sherbrooke and her project consists of spending two weeks in New Orleans, Louisiana with a mentor, exploring the process of independent historical research and especially dealing with analyzing and organizing primary documents. Sarah would like to work in the field of historical research.