Congratulations to Bachelor of Health Sciences student Sara Pollanen on being named a 2024 recipient of the 3M National Student Fellowship!
The 3M National Student Fellowship honours up to ten full-time diploma and undergraduate students at Canadian post-secondary schools who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in their lives and at their institution. These students embrace a vision of education that enhances their academic experience and beyond. Sara is the first recipient of this Fellowship to be selected from Queen’s University.
“I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity to receive such a prestigious award and to be the first student from Queen's University to receive this distinction. This fellowship emphasizes the importance and need for educational leaders and innovators in the field of health sciences. It highlights the imperative need to enhance accessibility and dismantle barriers to access of information, promoting collective growth and change. Moreover, the urgency of environmental education cannot be overstated in our current times."
As a Health Sciences student at Queen’s, Sara founded the Healthcare and Sciences Research Workshops, an accessible initiative dedicated towards connecting students with research experts, enhancing career development for diverse backgrounds in academia. As elected President of the Health Sciences Society, she spearheaded several equity-based bursaries, including the MCAT book bursary, a nationwide collaboration between medical students and aspiring undergraduates.
"Through my involvement in various environmental projects and as a steward of sustainability, I have seen first-hand how education can foster a greater awareness and drive impactful actions. As a fellow, I am excited to further these endeavors, understanding that every small action contributes to larger change. This recognition serves as a powerful reminder of what we can achieve through collaborative effort and reinforces my commitment to continue expanding our understanding of education, pushing boundaries of what we can achieve in both health sciences and environmental conservation."
Read more about all of the 2024 cohort here