The Family : Hazen, Iisha, Jamie, Grayer and Farren Parsons.
-by Rankin MacDonald
Grayer Parsons, 17, of Deepdale will begin his quest for his life-long dream of making our world a better place to be.
On August 16th, he and his parents will travel to New Haven, Connecticut, to register Grayer at Yale University.
Grayer is the son of Jamie and Tisha Parsons and brother to Haven and Farren.
It all began for Grayer when he attainted Shad Canada last year where he met a fellow Shad participant, Kevin Giang.
With the help of Cape Breton Highlands Academy teacher John MacKinnon and his parents he was shown how he was well suited to be accepted by Shad Canada.
He told The Oran, “I have always had a love of learning. I have a natural curiosity and I think that that’s helped me a lot, but my parents are also very encouraging and supportive. I am always looking for new opportunities to grow as an individual.
“I think it is important to give back to the community because when I look at the world, I see a lot of hate, and I want to be part of positive change. I’ve been volunteering at the Manor for a few years now and I really enjoy my time there. I love chatting with residents and bringing some happiness to their day. That sometimes looks like me calling bingo, doing laps in the halfway, dropping off a book, or listening to jokes. We planted a tulip garden last year after a fundraiser I helped with at CBHECA. When the tulips bloom in the spring, I hope they bring a sense of happiness and life to the people who see them. I also hope they inspire others to volunteer in our community,” he added.
Shad Canada (formerly known as Shad Valley) is an annual Canadian summer enrichment program for high-achieving high school students in July. The program is open to both Canadian and international students. The program is offered at 21 participating universities across Canada.
Shad focusses on both academic learning through lectures, workshops, labs, and group projects as well as the development of an individual and community. These experiences are usually focussed on the areas of science, technology, engineering, arts, and/or mathematics (STEAM).
There is a rigorous application process, which goes in-depth into both the students’ academics and extra-curriculars. Shad normally runs for four weeks in July.
During the month, Shads participate in various activities including lectures, workshops, labs, group projects, recreational activities, and more. Shads also participate in a Real-World Design Project. In the project, Shads are presented with the current year’s them and propose a solution.
Grayer was accepted at universities in Canada and the U.S., but at Shad Canada, Kevin Giang, who came to Ontario as a child from China, saw the special nature and intellect of Grayer and encouraged him to apply to the big three schools in the United States: Harvard, Yale, and Princeton.
His roommate encouraged him to aim high to achieve his goals in life and to shoot for the stars was nothing new for Grayer. He returned the advice with academic assistance.
Grayer is the consummate community volunteer, bringing smiles to the elderly, working for school and community, and always looking for ways to better himself, school, and community.
“I had the privilege of being accepted to the Minister of Education’s Student Advisory Council for the province. It’s a committee of students who come together a few times a year to discuss various educational topics on behalf of students throughout the province. Being from a rural area, I am happy to provide representation, because our issues are often very different from the more urban areas. I find the opportunity incredibly insightful, and it is teaching me a lot about how decisions are made in government. Currently, we are working on a project to accompany the Student Success Survey, a province-wide survey administered each spring to all student sin grades four to 12 with a focus on students’ experiences within the public school system in Nova Scotia.”
So applying to Ivy League achools was the outcome of dicussions with teachers, parents, and academics in the county.
He was accepted with scholarships at the University of Toronto ($100,000) as well as from Mount Allison and Carlton.
The education he wanted in Global Affairs was the strength of schools like Yale, University of Pennsylvania and Dartmouth.
He applied to the three and was accepted by Yale, which would match any other school’s scholarships.
Grayer, his mom, and dad talked it out, a bit apprehensive of going to the U.S. in this climate but they decided on Yale with a $75,000 (U.S.) a year scholarship.
First to Shad and first to Yale from CBHA.
It was the school he wanted where he could concentrate on Global Affairs with a second major in Economics and Cognitive Science.
The family will attend a teacher’s convention and tour the eastern U.S. states before geting the “lay of the land” in New Haven.
He will be in residence for two years.
Grayer is a young man who believes in a moral life and this will hopefully help him make a difference in our world.
Good parenting, a place with values, and learning the importance of giving back to the community helped him on his way, Along with Giang, who he believes his Yale days would only be a dream without him.
Grayer considers it an honour to be attending Yale to pursue his life goals and encourages parents to push their sons and daughters to succeed.
“I encourage other students my age to take the risk, step out of their comfort zone, and do the things that interest them, even if they are a little scary.
Grayer brings an educational pride to our county, something that we can only hope all young people will strive to achieve in whatever capacity they are gifted.
Change the world is one heck of a goal.
But Yale was in his stars. His sister is Haven.
Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States. It is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution.
In the 19th century, the college expanded to include graduate and professional instruction, awarding the first PhD in the United States in 1861 and organizing as a university in 1887. It is one of the founding members of the Association of American Universities. Yale’s faculty and student populations grew rapidly after 1890 due to the expansion of the physical campus and its scientific research programs.