Meet Alumni Laurel Gain
Laurel, a 2020 R.J.S. Scholarship recipient, has turned her vision of combining engineering, environmental stewardship, and community impact into reality.
When Laurel first received the R.J.S Scholarship in 2020, she was a grade 12 student dreaming of combining an engineering education with her passion for the environment, and community. Today, she’s graduating with a Computer Engineering degree from the University of Toronto and working as a Renewable Energy and Electricity Intern with Natural Resources Canada, living out the vision she once put on paper in her application.
“It's just really cool to be able to kind of take my education and the experiences I've had with my extracurriculars, in-and-out of school, like my background with I-Think, working with the Climate Action Challenge Kit, but also in my internship as a Climate Action Engineer …it helped me land in a job where I can combine both my education and passions and be able to see actual, real world differences with the work I do.”
Laurel discovered Integrative Thinking and real-world problem solving because of her grade X teacher. The mindsets and methodology helped her see beyond either/or choices. Instead of choosing between engineering, or environmental work, or community-focused work, she found a way to do all three in her own way.
Laurel’s Integrative Thinking skills extended well beyond academics. On a family trip to Bangladesh, she visited the orphanage where her father grew up and saw firsthand how donations had dried up after the height of the pandemic. Locals said nothing could be done, especially in the short time her family was there.
Laurel refused to accept that. She learned that how you frame the problem impacts how you solve it. “I made an open spreadsheet that everyone could see if they donated, where the money was going, exactly what it was being donated to, specific receipts, pictures of all the things. Because I realized one of the bigger problems of people not wanting to donate is they don't really know where their money is going, especially if it's somewhere across the world.”
Within a single day, she pitched the need to her entire network, and raised more than the amount she needed. Her efforts translated into six months of support: hot meals, uniforms, backpacks, toys, school supplies, and even exam fees for students.
For Laurel, this was more proof that the tools she’d learned with Integrative Thinking, like reframing problems, building empathy, and driving for insights, can create a path forward when others say it’s not possible. Laurel keeps showing us that the biggest challenges don’t have to force us into either/or choices.
Read Laurel’s About Me letter for the RJS Scholarship.
