Cape Breton teen one of 33 Canadians awarded $100K Loran scholarship

A 17-year-old from a small Cape Breton community is one of just 33 Canadians to receive the prestigious Loran scholarship, an award valued at about$100,000 that will fund her undergraduate university studies.

Janine Lock, a Grade 12 student at the Strait Area Education and Recreation Centre in Port Hawkesbury, was chosen from a field of 4,400 students from across the country.

The Loran Scholars Foundation was started in 1988. It aims to help students who are not just strong academically, butalso show leadership potential.

"I think they're really looking for who you are as a person, who you are every day; less so than who you are on your resume," Lock, who lives in West Bay, told CBC's Information Morning Cape Breton.

Lock's school nominated her for the Loran, and it's easy to see why. She's a member of school share and care committee, which raises money to buy Christmas gifts for children, has been active in 4-H for years, plays for the school's soccer and curling teams and is a competitive horseback rider.

Over the past seven years she developed a guide for games and activities on her bus to keep restless children busy during the hour-plus trip to school. She made a formal pitch to the school board to turn it into a district-wide program.

Lock is interested in some day becoming a doctor with the Canadian military.

She also has a passion for research in agro-environmental science.Her interest was initially fueled by the fact that her grandfather has Parkinson's disease, she said, noting she wants to explore the school of thought that environmental factors contribute to nervous system diseases.

"You can have a genetic disposition, although until it's triggered by an environmental factor, it might never show," she said. "There's a lot of people who think it's agricultural toxins, and that's why it's agro-environmental that I'm interested in."

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She told CBC she's looking at the military because she wants to be totally "immersed in a situation, rather than be on the outskirts."

"I'd like to work in a job that every day I see that I'm making a life or death difference. I'm also someone who likes to challenge myself physically and mentally, and the military I think would be a huge challenge," said Lock.

The Loran award includes an annual $10,000 stipend, a tuition waiver, funding for retreats and summer internships, and mentorship programs.

There are 25 universities across Canada who are partners in the Loran Scholars Foundation.