From Halifax Grammar School to Dalhousie University, the tradition of excellence continues for alumni Erin Mackinnon’18 and Lauren Williams’18.
The engineering students both received the Sexton Scholar designation in their first year at Dalhousie University. The award, unique to the faculty, honour students who receive a GPA of 3.85 or higher and maintain a full course load in one or more academic terms during the year.
Erin is following in the footsteps of her father, Blair, Grammar's IT Director, who also attended DAL to study engineering.
“I love math and physics, and I’ve wanted to do this since grade eight. After a science project, a teacher suggested engineering, and I thought it was a great idea,” Erin said.
Lauren who also enjoyed math, physics and chemistry courses during her time at Grammar went into engineering - because she says it combines all three subjects.
Both Lauren and Erin credit their success to the preparation they received from Grammar.
“The IB program at Grammar made university a lot easier. Through the IB program I’ve learned to manage a high work load and have a better expectation of the workload”, said Lauren.
For Erin, the workload in university is similar to Grammar's so she was prepared for the intensive engineering program.
“Grammar was difficult but prepared me for the work-load of engineering,” she said.
As for their future in engineering, Erin hopes to get into mechanical engineering, and then parlay that into biomedical and prosthetics, which has been her dream for a long time. Lauren also plans to specialize in mechanical engineering because it is so versatile.