There are a lot of smart students in B.C., but Jael Penner has the honour of being one of the few of them who gets to claim that their academic prowess earned an award from the Governor General.
The University of the Fraser Valley graduate was this year's recipient of the Governor General's Collegiate Bronze Medal, which is handed out to the student with the school's highest GPA in a post-secondary diploma program.
Penner recently completed her studies in the computer information systems diploma program, where she achieved a GPA of 4.33, earning her the prestigious award.
She explained that her passion for problem-solving is a major part of what drove her to accomplish this impressive academic milestone.
Long before attending UFV, Penner's love affair with computers had sprouted from her time at Abbotsford Virtual School.
"In Grade 5, I was in a 3-D design class, and in Grade 6 I was in a Google class and learned some basic programming,” Penner said. “All of my middle school coursework was online, and I was always clicking around."
The Abbotsford student furthered her passion for computer information systems in high school and began working for Silver Hills Bakery as a student software developer after graduation.
During her time at the bakery, Penner created an app that the business now uses to help manage its many product recipes.
"Writing code for an app like that, the challenge is how do we tap into a lot of different databases from multiple sources and bring it all together to get the exact data that we want?" she said. "There’s a lot of thinking that goes into that."
Although this is Penner's first Governor General award, it may not be her last, as she now plans to continue on with her education and pursue a computer information systems bachelor's degree.
For any students just about to enter the post-secondary world, Penner has some simple wisdom to share in order to get the most out of the learning experience.
"Be curious," she said.
"Think about what the professors are saying during lectures, and what you can ask them. For me, that helps solidify what I’m learning and reassures me that I’m understanding the content. And the other thing would be to plan your time wisely and know what your priorities are. Time management is super important."
Penner isn't the only UFV student to win a medal from the Governor General this year, with child and youth care degree student Thea Bramer receiving the silver medal.
Governor General's academic medals are given out at various education levels, with bronze going to high school graduates, collegiate bronze to post-secondary diploma program graduates, silver to undergraduates, and gold to graduate program graduates.
