A recent graduate of Southern Okanagan Secondary School has been awarded the Top Academic Medal from the Governor General of Canada.
Eighteen-year-old Matthew Tester accepted the award last Friday from school administrators Marcus Toneatto and Tracy Harrington.
“He is absolutely incredible,” said Toneatto. Many of his teachers describe him as brilliant.”
The principal noted that Tester is a well-rounded student who was very active at SOSS and played a leading role in the Wizard of Oz production.
Toneatto noted that Tester’s grade point average at SOSS was approximately 95 per cent, and he scored an outstanding 5 in the new Advanced Placement history course taught by Maurizio Basso this year.
“Whatever Matthew does, we have high expectations for him,” the principal said.
Tester told the Chronicle that he was extremely honoured to receive the medal.
“It validates a lot of the work I put into high school . . . I pushed myself consistently.”
Tester attributed his academic achievements to the desire to be engaged in whatever he was learning. It also helps to have teachers who are equally engaged in the classroom, he said.
Tester found the Advanced Placement course on world history to be very enriching.
“I really liked what I was learning (important people and events), even though it was hard . . . it wasn’t a course you could relax through.”
Tester’s future plans include attending UBC in Vancouver. He’s not sure what he will major in, but he’s leaning towards medicine, specializing in neurology. His teachers always thought he was a “brain.”
“Since I was young I always wanted to be a doctor. My grandfather had a heart attack and I have a lot of respect for the people who saved his life.”
Tester said being a doctor would be a very rewarding career for him.
This summer he moved to Kelowna and landed a job at Old Navy. He also started volunteering at Kelowna General Hospital in a parking lot café where doctors and patients get their coffee.
“I really want experience in a hospital. I want to be in that environment.”
Tester finds neurology fascinating and wants to unlock its mysteries. What can we do to change the brain to allow humans to be better? That’s one question he wants to answer.
Tester sees medicine becoming more experimental in the future, with more work being done on stem cells and organic matter research.
As for small town Oliver, he’s going to miss it, especially the high school where he built a special bond with teachers and classmates.
Tester really appreciated the fact he could talk to his teachers about anything.
He’s also going to miss all that drama – the class was his chance to do something really creative and fun without having to study for it.
Lyonel Doherty
Oliver Chronicle
