Venezuelan student in Canada breaks all academic records

                                                     Alma Ornés
The daughter of a former PDVSA couple, now living away from home, has broken all academic records in Canada, while studying environmental engineering. Here is the story:

By Tarwinder Rai
Straight A’s and a 4.0 GPA is a record most post-secondary student’s dream of achieving. For Alma Ornes it was just a matter of finding the right balance.

Winner of the Governor General’s Silver Medal and the Henry Birks and Sons Medal, Ornes maintained a 4.0 GPA in every academic term as she worked towards her BSc in environmental engineering. She not only broke all academic records set by previous students in the department, she raised the bar at the faculty level ten-fold.

"I did study a lot in my first year, but by the second year you find your rhythm," says Ornes, who graduated this spring, and received 12 awards and scholarships over the course of her academic career. "The most important thing was finding something to balance school work with so it doesn’t fry your brain. It helps you keep your mind healthier and to learn better."

Coming from a family with generations of engineers, Ornes, who grew up in Venezuela, moved to Canada with her family a few months before she began attending the University of Alberta. While some culture shock was expected, Ornes said the weather difference is "what you notice the most."

"Canada is really open and I’ve gotten to experience a lot of different cultures which is really interesting. The diversity of communities in Canada is amazing," said Ornes, adding she was celebrating her recent graduation in Europe and was taking the ferry from Italy to Greece when she learned of all the awards she'd be receiving. "I was really surprised (to learn of the awards) because I didn’t really expect anything."

Ornes balanced her academic and personal life by being actively involved in intramural soccer, football, volleyball, basketball and wall climbing. She also helped organize events with the University of Alberta International Centre as a volunteer.

Admittedly many may consider this quite the undertaking; Ornes says it’s the only way to guarantee a break from school work. But she does warn students must "always do your homework."

Her academic achievements also include being the recipient of numerous other prestigious awards like the APEGGA Medal in Civil Engineering; Petro-Canada Emerging Leaders Dean’s Citation in Engineering; Rt. Honourable CD Howe Memorial Fellowship; APEGGA HR Webb Memorial Scholarship and the Registrar’s International Student Scholarship.