Michael Peters, a student in the MD Undergraduate program, has been awarded the 3M National Student Fellowship.
The Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE) presents the 3M National Student Fellowship to up to ten full-time college and undergraduate university students at Canadian institutions who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in their lives and at their college or university. These students embrace a vision of quality education that enhances their academic experience and beyond.
From the STLHE website:
“Michael’s story as a humanitarian begins with his grandmother becoming wheelchair-bound after an immobilizing stroke; she eventually passed away from a blood clot that resulted from her immobilization. Moved by this experience, Michael developed a wheelchair adaptation to potentially help prevent deep vein thrombosis in immobilized patients. Through his inspired work with disabled individuals, he brought his invention to the worldwide community by competition in national and international science innovation events. His international experiences gave him a newfound appreciation for the privileges we have in Canada, and he spent two summers in rural Ecuador building houses with an international organization. Without losing his community roots, Michael also focuses on community building and values-based support groups for children and junior youth. This Junior Youth Empowerment Program is an institution dedicated to developing powers of expression, capacities for moral reasoning, and an ethic of service to others by combing studying, mentorship, and social action. In addition, Michael’s mother passed away from cancer when he was 15, and this life-changing event instilled in him a desire to help others. He began cycling to raise money for cancer research, culminating in a trans-North America cycling journey.”