Richmond, B.C.
Bellinger hopes to be a doctor
Charmaine Rodriguez Kara
A Filipino-Canadian high school graduate is among the 55 in B.C. who will enjoy scholarship and will help him achieve his dream of becoming a doctor.
Kian Marquez Bellinger, who is from McNair Secondary, is a recipient of a $5,000 BC Excellence Scholarship from the Ministry of Education and Child Care and a $1,000 Kronier Family Scholarship from the Richmond Community Foundation, according to a report by Richmond News.
He is among the 55 high school graduates in B.C. who have ho have demonstrated service and leadership, the report added.
Bellinger, who dreams of becoming a doctor in less developed countries, is a son of Marilou Marquez who is from Bulacan, Philippines. He will study biotech engineering at Simon Fraser University and will save money for his dream of becoming a physician.
“Hopefully, one day, I could be an emergency care doctor to help people overseas,” he said. He hopes other students will also live their lives to the fullest by following their passions, potential and instincts.
“I feel like one thing many people don’t realize is that not a lot of students think they have the possibility to make a difference in the community. But, honestly, all it takes is the will to do it and the want. Then, anything can get done,” he added in the same interview.
Marilou said hard work and helping others have been rooted in their parenting since they migrated to Richmond from the Philippines.
In 2018, Richmond News also reported that Kian and his older brother, Braden, went to visit a village in Bulacan, Philippines—their mother’s hometown—to help children in one of the poorest areas there.
With their own funds, they gave gifts to about 400 children. They gave them hygiene kits and slippers.
The brothers saw children without footwear or broken ones.
On their last day, they had food prepared for the group which the children enjoyed very much.
The brothers learned to appreciate what they have and became inspired with how happy the children were despite their circumstances.
Marilou was very proud of her sons’ outreach trip.
“I was so poor; I (used to be one) of those kids. I didn’t have shoes. When the classroom was flooded, we were in while our feet were in the water,” she recalled.
“I’m so, so happy to see the boys going back to where I come from, and that they are willing to give back,” she added in the same report.
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