Shruti brought interests in film and conservation to Pearson where they are learning to dive and sail and are active with the Film Club and as a facilitator for x̌ʷayɘŋ (Race Rocks) Immersion Weekends.  Their subjects are Marine Science and Philosophy, aligning with their activities in the Salish Sea Stewards program, a Reflective Project at the University of Victoria’s Applied Conservation Science Lab and the creation of a mini-doc on ethnobotanical knowledge of medicinal plants. While undecided about post-secondary opportunities, Shruti’s dream is to become a National Geographic explorer and wildlife conservationist and presenter.

Amari, passionate about climate justice and food sovereignty, takes Spanish and Global Politics as his IB subjects and is learning Anishinaabemowin online. He is deeply involved with the Saanich Native Plants seed exchange and nursery, is a certified Pollinator Steward and completed projects on agrarian land trusts on unceded First Nations territories and on urban collaborative farming and food security. Ayana wants to be a community organizer for food security and help young agrarians from minoritized backgrounds access land. Post-Pearson, his aim is to work for organizations the UN World Food Program or the One Acre Fund.

Jaakko is Sami from northern Finland where his family practices traditional and sustainable reindeer husbandry. With an interest in STEM, at Pearson he is studying IB Diploma physics and chemistry, while maintaining several academic and experiential learning pursuits. His motivation to integrate traditional Indigenous knowledge and thinking into conventional science-based approaches is a passion. In his second year, he entered the Engineers and Geoscientists BC mentorship program and became interested in pursuing studies leading to a career focusing on nature-based solutions engineering. 

Benita understands the impact of inequality both in terms of wealth and access to resources and has been committed from a young age to better grasp the systems that maintain inequity at home and globally. She is pursuing language studies at Pearson to broaden her ability to learn directly from a variety of mainstream and non-traditional sources of information. She is also studying economics and philosophy to build her foundational understanding of current economic and decision-making systems and how these impact economic policy and ultimately, income inequality and food security.