‘I didn’t get here on my own,’ says award winner
Photo courtesy of the New Democrat BC Government Caucus.
Sophia Vaillant, a second year UVic business student, is the recipient of the King Charles III Coronation Medal, an esteemed award designated for outstanding contributors to their community.
Vaillant was nominated for the coronation medal by Courtenay-Comox MLA Ronna-Rae Leonard, who had connected with her when she won the TD Community Leadership Scholarship in 2023. Vaillant was one of 20 highschool graduates in Canada to receive the prestigious award, which is given annually to students who make a positive impact in their communities.
The medal was designed to commemorate the coronation of King Charles, which took place on May 6, 2023. Across Canada, 30 000 of these medals have been awarded, and the recipients were given the honour based on having made a significant contribution to the country.
Vaillant told the Martlet that her mom helped to make the ceremony for her medal a complete surprise. She said that she was told to dress nicely to take family photos at the Comox Marina for her grandpa’s birthday. Little did she know that her friends, family, and mentors would be waiting to watch her be presented with the award that commemorates years of contributions to her neighbourhood.
When she was in grade ten, Vaillant used her 3D printing knowledge to produce healthcare training equipment for the emergency department at Comox Valley Hospital. She spent months coordinating with the hospital to order specialized plastic filament and figuring out the tools she needed to produce the model, which was designed to look like a human trachea.
Staff would then use the model to practice a procedure where tubes are placed in the windpipe to breathe on behalf of a patient. The project took Vaillant all summer to complete, and her ingenuity ultimately saved the hospital $12 000.
Vaillant’s other big high school project was the creation of Zenius Labs, a program for young students to work collaboratively on science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) projects. Vaillant, who was enrolled in a hybrid robotics homeschooling program, felt that the competitive robotics teams didn’t match her desire for teamwork and creativity. Together with her mother, teacher, and homeschool parent advisory council, she developed Zenius as a way to give kids interested in STEAM a chance to succeed.
Zenius was incredibly popular, and Vaillant went on to tour the south island and the lower mainland –– delivering the program to other homeschooling communities as far away as Surrey.
Vaillant’s latest project is a Taylor-Swift-themed fundraising event and concert ticket raffle.
She planned the event in collaboration with the Lake Trail Community Education Society (LTCES), located in Courtenay, with the hopes of raising money for children’s programming like the ones she’s organized in the past.
Vaillant said she’d like this event to serve as a way for her to provide others with the opportunities that she says helped her to become the community-minded person she is today.
“I absolutely would not be where I am today — as articulate and confident in who I am today — if I hadn’t had community programming growing up,” said Vaillant. “I didn’t get here on my own,” she said.
The young changemaker credits her mother, best friends, and mentors in high school as the “foundation” that supported her throughout the ups and downs of being such a high achiever.
“It was hard for a really long time to keep up with the expectations I had set for myself,” she said, explaining that now she’s comfortable letting herself take breaks.
When she’s not inspiring young scientists and hosting fundraisers, Vaillant enjoys crocheting, sewing, and “goofing off with [her] friends.”
