A University of Guelph student is the recipient of one of the world’s most prestigious scholarships.
Jayden Parker, a fourth-year biomedical sciences student, said winning the Rhodes Scholarship still feels like a dream.
He said he heard about the award for years, but he never thought of going after it because it was unachievable for him.
However, Parker said he met with the Rhodes Scholarship board in Bermuda, where he is a dual citizen. After the board reached out to him, he thought he’d “give it a shot.”
“If you become a finalist, you get a certificate, and that’s pretty well regarded on its own,” Parker said. “No, never was this part of the plan. Never did I expect this so if I can do it, anybody can do it.”
Parker was born in Montreal before moving back to Bermuda with his mother and sister as a child. While he was there, he volunteered at the local aquarium.
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He said he’s always had an interest in animals and the environment.
“It’s always been a passion of mine in some way. My family always had a lot of pets. I was very interested in birds, very interested in ocean animals, I was interested in sciences, everything biology, everything animal-related,” he said.
Parker’s passion only grew through middle school and into high school; it grew even further when his mother’s friend studied at the U of G’s Ontario Veterinary College.
He said his mother set him up for success earlier in life.
“She had put me in sports, and I was no good, this club, that club, I was no good and I was hopeless,” he said.
His mother taught him one of the most important lessons in life: nothing is impossible.
Parker will head to the University of Oxford in September, where he’ll use the scholarship to fund his education and try to earn a pair of master’s degrees in just two years.
He plans to finish his biomedical sciences degree at the U of G before heading back to Bermuda, where he grew up, this summer to work with animals.
“I really hope anybody who’s pursuing a similar field, who might not have that it was achievable because of a financial situation or their family situation or their education, I would encourage them to just keep pushing on,” he said.
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