Search online about teens in Winnipeg and most of the results suggest that young people are constantly on their worst behaviour. Such a cursory view ignores exquisite talents and successes of teens in this city. The following review of five great achievements of young people in Winnipeg during 2013 suggests that there is much more to teenagers in the city of muddy waters.
Aaron Wojnowksi, 18, Vincent Massey Collegiate graduate, along with Christian Lunny, 18, and 12th-grader David Bell, both from St. Paul’s High School at the time, created the app MUSI, which allows users to create personal playlists using Youtube, rather than rely on premade playlists on sites like Songza and 8tracks.
Daniel Huang, age 16 and in grade 11 at the time, at St. John’s-Ravenscourt, won fifth place at the Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada in Ottawa for discovering a possible new way to combat the deadliest brain cancer.
Vivek Bhagria, 18, a student (and now graduate) of Dakota Collegiate in 2013, was chosen as the only Manitoban out of 30 athletes to represent Canada at the World Dwarf Games last August at Michigan State University where he and Team Canada won bronze for volleyball.
Alyssa Nepinak, 13, who was in grade seven at Arthur E. Wright last year, walked from Winnipeg to Ottawa, leaving March 28 and arriving in Ottawa May 13. Nepinak was one of the youngest members of Youth4Lakes, a group in support of the Idle No More movement.
*Honourable mention: Ryan Pistorius, a student at St. John’s-Ravenscourt, was named the world’s top debater and public speaker for high school students amongst 80 others from 16 countries at the World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championship in Brisbane, Australia in 2012.
In the areas of digital technology, public speaking, cutting-edge medical developments, athletic prowess, and social activism, teens in Winnipeg are at the forefront not only in our city, province, and country, but globally.
