MBCI student reaching for the stars with $100k Schulich Leadership Scholarship

Scholarships run in the family for one Winnipeg home as their newest graduate is named a Schulich Leadership scholar. 

Julia Dyck is a Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute (MBCI) graduate and soon-to-be Queen's University student. When she gets there, she will be following her brother and cousin's footsteps by studying engineering. With the help of her MBCI teachers, Dyck applied for the Schulich Leadership Scholarship to help those dreams come true.

"During all of June I was checking my email, probably hourly, hoping to get an email but I never thought I'd actually get one," Dyck says.

That all changed one day between Calculus to Bible Class when that email arrived.

"When I saw the email I first had to read it a couple of times over again just to make sure."

Dyck credits her teachers for helping her grow in her faith as she learns more about math and the sciences.

"Math has played a pivotal role for my faith and has allowed me to appreciate how vast and complex and amazing God really is. I think this passion that MBCI has fostered will help me in my time at Queens," she says. "Seeing all those different patterns and how the world all works together has definitely been pulling me closer towards God rather than pushing me away."

Dyck will be studying computer and electrical engineering, possibly going on to study biomedical engineering or aerospace engineering afterwards. The student says while she is not sure if this path will lead to space, as it takes a lot of work to become an astronaut, but says it would be exciting if that is where she is led.

Dyck is one of the one hundred winners and one of five Manitobans to receive the prestigious Schulich Leadership Scholarship. Her older brother previously won this award for his studies. This scholarship is for high school graduates in Canada, as well as Israel.