An incoming student at Waterloo Engineering will start his studies this fall with $70,000 in backing from a national, four-year scholarship.
Chinemerem Chigbo of Winnipeg is one of 20 cross-country recipients of 2020 TD Scholarships for Community Leadership in recognition of outstanding contributions to change in their communities.
The money will allow Chigbo, 17, to study computer engineering at Waterloo, his first choice of schools, rather than staying closer to home for his post-secondary education.
Chinemerem Chigbo is coming to Waterloo for the computer engineering program.
“This is something that’s a life-changing opportunity,” he said in a recent media interview.
More than 3,000 graduating high school students from across Canada applied for the scholarships, which provide $10,000 for tuition and $7,500 for living expenses each year.
Chigbo created a mental health club at his high school to challenge expectations of masculinity and encourage young men to be themselves.
That initiative grew out of counselling he received after his best friend took his own life when he was in Grade 10.
Chigbo also volunteered with a philanthropic youth group, was president of the student council, served as a page in the Manitoba legislature and helped other young people who were struggling in school.