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Scholarships put Whistler grads ‘in new tax bracket’

Being a teenager with high school almost over, on the cusp of something new, is a great place to be standing, even with final exams still looming. It's an even better place with $10,000 worth of scholarship money in your back pocket.

Being a teenager with high school almost over, on the cusp of something new, is a great place to be standing, even with final exams still looming.

It's an even better place with $10,000 worth of scholarship money in your back pocket.

Two Whistler Secondary School grads are in just that position and a host of their peers have also been given a helping hand in recognition of their high academics, community involvement or athletic excellence.

At last count Hailey Dekraker had amassed roughly $13,750 in scholarship money.

"That puts me in a new tax bracket," joked the 16-year-old.

Her scholarship winnings are the highest in her graduating class. She also tied for first place with Jen Barkman with the highest GPA in the class.

Then there's Blake Jamieson, whose three scholarships total $9,500.

"I'm a little bit awestruck," he said.

"You always hear about the kids who get scholarships and think, 'that's not going to happen to me.'"

Both were recognized for national awards where they were up against stiff competition.

Dekraker was one of the 100,000 Canadians who applied for the Canadian Merit Scholarship. After a regional interview, she was chosen to fly to Toronto for more rigorous interviews and asked her opinion on subjects ranging from politics to drugs to Sept. 11.

She was ultimately awarded $2,500.

Jamieson was one of 7,000 applicants across the country that applied for the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation Excellence Award.

As a local award winner he received $4,000.

Looking over both resumes, it's obvious to see the scholarships don't come easy.

They both have outstanding grades and are totally committed to different things in their lives.

Jamieson moved to Whistler last year to concentrate on his ski racing.

The Tsawwassen-born 18-year-old has been on skis since he was two and is now a member of the Nor-Am team.

This dedication to the sport has meant long periods away from school where it was tough to keep up his studies. His parents only allowed him to race provided he stayed on the Honour Roll.

But now Jamieson wants to concentrate on other things, even though he plans to race for the ski team at UBC in the fall.

"It's definitely still a large part of who I am. It's given me a lot more drive that I would have had," he said.

It's that kind of drive that led him to spearhead a group that would challenge the no hats rule at Whistler Secondary school in his first month there.

After making his case to the Parents Advisory Council and teachers, Jamieson managed to get the policy changed.

"It felt great to come somewhere and make some changes," he said.

Dekraker has also been making changes throughout the community for years.

She has volunteered at the Whistler Health Care Centre for the past three years, a job, which she says is a little like candy striping.

"It can be anything from holding hands to cleaning up messes," she said.

She was the youth representative on the sustainability forum. She helped out with the library fund. She has been on the student council for years, where she started the environmental committee. This list goes on.

"It looks like a lot but you just manage to do it," she said.

"You just find the time.

A handful of students like Jamieson and Dekraker received awards from outside the community but 31 students in this year’s graduating class got local awards.

"We have a small school but an amazing community. There's a great chance to take advantage of that," said Jamieson.

There were almost 60 awards or scholarships up for grabs this year, due to the hard work of the Scholarship Committee headed up by Debbie Smythe.

She said it doesn't take a lot of convincing in this community to get people to chip in.

"I've done much harder sales jobs," she said.

Smythe estimates that over the last six years of handing out community awards and scholarships to the grads at the high school, there has been about a quarter of a million dollars donated by locals.

"It's really gratifying and it's a real honour to be able to give it out to the kids."

This year's graduating class has a much higher number of kids going on to university than in past years and the number of kids applying for scholarships and awards has almost doubled.

"There's scholarships coming out of the woodwork," said Jamieson.

"Hopefully we're leaving some big shoes to fill."

After final exams, Dekraker and Jamieson are both looking forward to a much-deserved quieter summer.

Dekraker might get a summer job, possibly bussing at a restaurant in town.

And she already has plans for her scholarship money, most of which will go toward tuition and residency at UBC.

She might tuck some away to pay for her second year. Then again, she is toying with the idea of buying a new laptop. She still hasn't decided.

Jamieson's $9,500 in scholarships means he has one more summer of reprieve before hitting the books again at UBC.

"I believe this is one of my last summers of bliss," he sighed.

"Dad has informed me that I have to find a job but with these scholarships, I can put that off for a while."