SACKVILLE, NB – Mount Allison University has welcomed another Loran Scholar to campus this Fall — Anna Irwin of Clyde River, NU and Orillia, ON. Irwin is a first-year Environmental Studies student with a passion for education and the outdoors.

“I’m a huge outdoor enthusiast. My grandpa introduced me to many of the activities I enjoy today, paddling, hiking, Nordic skiing, canoeing. It’s exciting to be trying these activities and living in a new part of Canada,” she says.

Irwin is from Orillia, ON but has spent the past two years in Clyde River, Nunavut, a remote community with a population of approximately 1,000. While in Clyde River, she helped bring Nordic skiing to the local community, organizing a youth program and helping to secure equipment for children at the K-12 school she attended.

“The community in Clyde River was very welcoming and the Inuit culture is fascinating; everything is built around community,” says Irwin. “My family and I lived there for two years. In that time, I learned some of the Inuktitut language, helping to incorporate bilingual announcements at the school and worked with children and youth on several outdoor activities, including Nordic skiing.”

The only award of its kind in the country, the Loran Award is a four-year leadership enrichment program consisting of summer work experiences, mentorship, scholar gatherings, an annual living stipend, and a tuition waiver at one of 25 university partners.   

Irwin founded and led several school and community initiatives in Clyde River, Orillia, and now Sackville. In Clyde River she co-ordinated the school’s Terry Fox run and in Ontario led within the Scouting movement, helping others through local community service and international service trips. She has also joined Scouting in Sackville. Her passion for photography led to collaboration in documenting Climate Change in the Arctic presented at COP26.  

At Mount Allison, Irwin is a member of the school’s cross-country team, plays ultimate frisbee, is involved in her residence house council (co-rep for social media) and has participated in Geography and Environment student society events.  

“Being a Loran Scholar means being a part of an amazing community of leaders who are all committed to making the world better one day at a time,” says Irwin. “Throughout the application process I met so many like-minded people. I have friends all over the country now thanks to that experience.”

The Loran Scholars Foundation is committed to identifying and supporting young Canadians to realize their full potential. To find these young people, the Foundation administers the most thorough scholarship selection process in the country. As such, selection supersedes grades and is based on strength of character, a deep commitment to service, evidence of courage, compassion, and an entrepreneurial spirit.

Since joining Loran’s university consortium in 1998, 17 Loran Scholars have chosen to attend Mount Allison University. Irwin joins 2019 Loran Scholar, Paniz Moradi on campus.

About the Loran Scholars Foundation

The Loran Scholars Foundation, established in 1988, is a national charity that works in partnership with universities, donors, and volunteers throughout the country to find and nurture young people who demonstrate strength of character, commitment to service, and leadership potential. The Foundation looks for qualities in Loran Scholars that a transcript alone cannot show — integrity, courage, compassion, determination, entrepreneurial spirit, and a high level of personal autonomy — and invests in these students to study and realize their potential on Canadian university campuses.