It could easily be a phone call that changed Jay Boll’s life. 

A Grade 12 student at 33 Central in Fillmore, he was working at his job after school Tuesday, when he received a phone call from Sheryl at the University of British Columbia. 

He recalled the conversation, starting with the first question she asked him. 

“’How do you feel about being accepted to UBC?’, and, you know, said that I was super excited and everything, and then she pretty much just dropped it on me - ‘You’ve won a scholarship valued at $80,000.’ and I was completely floored,” Boll recounted.  

The scholarship Boll received is the UBC Centennial Scholars Entrance Scholarship. It is awarded in values of $1,000 to $80,000, and he received the full amount. The scholarship is awarded to students who have demonstrated high academic ability, extraordinary community service, leadership, and require financial assistance in order to be able to attend UBC.  

While the choice to attend UBC would become obvious after receiving the scholarship, it was one he was already looking at attending. Other schools, though, would have liked to have him join their programs as well. 

“I’ll be studying engineering – I'm not sure what specialization yet as you can’t select those until second year – but I applied to U of S (University of Saskatchewan) and got in and I also applied to U of A (University of Alberta) and got in,” Boll said.  

Part of the reason why Boll went with UBC is their approach to the engineering program.  

“The thing with UBC is, it’s a much more research-oriented school, so hopefully I can get into something that will allow me to research something that is impactful in the world.” 

With just a little under two months remaining in the school year, Boll is now approaching the remainder of it with a lot less stress when it comes to financing his post-secondary education. 

“I pretty much don’t have to worry about finances at all anymore for my university, and now I can just focus on my last little bit of my Grade 12, and enjoying my summer.” 

While it will be a big change making the transition from Fillmore, a town of 311, to Vancouver, where over 2.5 million people call its metro area home, Boll said he has the support network back here in Saskatchewan to help him. At the same time, he is looking forward to the new experiences university will bring him in the coming years.