Canadian Muslim student Meena Waseem has won the prestigious Loran scholarship for her role in promoting diversity and empowerment of children and youth.

A student of the Cameron Heights Collegiate in Kitchener, Ontario, Waseem was one of 35 Canadian students who won the scholarship. The value of Loran scholarship is $100,000 over four years for undergraduate studies.

A dream came true

“It is crazy to think that I have earned the opportunities that my parents and I only dreamed of when we moved to Canada just nine years ago,” Waseem, who has a Pakistani origin, said in an interview with Kitchener Today website.

“The whole country has opened up in a new way to me! … I never expected to be blessed with something so incredible!”

Meena is a student council president and an avid public speaker on mental health and diversity, according to her Loran Scholar biography.

“Meena played percussion in band and chaired a club that eases students’ transition into high school,” the biography says.

“She organized her school’s first-ever mental health assembly and organized a successful hurricane relief fundraiser. Meena co-directed summer camps focusing on empowerment for children and youth.”

The Muslim student now plans to study health sciences or humanities at either Queen’s University, Western University, McGill University or the University of British Columbia.

Source: Muslim Link