For 18-year-old Zeel Patel, deciding between not one but two separate Schulich scholarships was a challenge. Having first received a notification from the University of Victoria, Patel says she ultimately turned-down a west-coast education to hold out for her dream school — the University of Waterloo. As fate would have it, Patel got the good news from Waterloo a few weeks later and started a degree in the Department of Physics & Astronomy this fall.
“The University of Waterloo struck me as being extremely resourceful and supportive towards its students’ initiatives and actively involved with creating a positive impact, not just in its direct community, but rather with reaches far beyond through its ambitious students,” says Patel.
A self-proclaimed “toddler at heart,” Patel’s innate curiosity for uncovering the world’s mysteries influenced her with dreams of one-day becoming an astronaut
“As I’ve grown, I’ve seen people slowly stop asking the golden question of ‘why.’ Since I find it exciting to have my questions answered by more questions, I’ve never been afraid of asking,” says Patel. “I guess that both of my parents being engineers and implementing STEM into practically everything I’ve done since early childhood had a hand in developing my passion in this area of study as well.”
