Local student among 2024 Loran Scholars

Amber Trails

Tuxedo

The future looks bright for Baljot Rai.

The 17-year-old Grade 12 student at St. Paul’s High School is one of 36 Loran Scholars for 2024, and the only one from Manitoba selected from over 5,000 applicants nationwide. The prestigious national award not only provides up to $100,000 over four years in tuition scholarships and annual stipends, but also mentorship and internship opportunities and more.

“I don’t have to worry about part-time employment or student loans,” Rai said. “That time I can spend back in the community, being who I really am. I’m very grateful for this opportunity because it opens so many doors. The mentorship allows us to focus as leaders. One thing we’re united in is our desire to do good in the community and be positive leaders. Having a mentor to discuss all that with is something that’s really special.”

Rai is the founder of the One in All Project, an interfaith action group working toward eliminating inequities faced by people of minority faiths who have been imprisoned. Rai credits his Sikh faith for inspiring his work in this field.

“An integral part of my faith is the understanding of the oneness of everybody. Despite differences, at the end of the day, we’re one,” said Rai, who lives in Amber Trails with his grandparents, parents, and younger sister. “With that, as part of my faith, it has been important to me to understand other faiths. It has been so pivotal in my life. With that, knowing how integral it can be, it has prompted me to take interfaith action.”

At St. Paul’s, Rai is an organizer of truth and reconciliation initiatives, and he also acts as secretary of the school’s Human Rights Club.

“A lot of my passion for human rights stemmed from the human rights club here, which I got involved with in Grade 9,” Rai said. “I’m very grateful for everything at school. It’s such a positive community here. They’ve all helped me get here. Throughout the whole process, they’ve been so helpful.”

The editor of his school newspaper with an interest in acting, Rai plans to study oceanography, with a minor in interfaith studies, next year at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

“A lot of that has been inspired by the struggles of Lake Winnipeg,” he said. “I want to major in that, and with that get into policy making.”

Before then, though, he will take part in a weeklong canoe trip and retreat in Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario later this summer with the other 2024 Loran Scholars from across Canada.

“All the youth in Loran 2024 is such a special group,” Rai said. “Something so special and touching is you see these teenagers and what we’re bonding over is so special, this desire to do good and be positive change makers. It’s so beautiful.”