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‘A dream come true:’ École Earl Marriott Secondary student receives $100,000 Loran scholarship

ibrahim-shaaban-insta.7d7615202258.pngÉcole Earl Marriott Secondary student Ibrahim Shaaban has been named a 2026 Loran Scholar, selected from more than 5,400 students from across the country.

It’s still surreal to Ibrahim Shaaban that he is a Loran Scholar, but the soon-to-be École Earl Marriott Secondary grad is indeed one of 36 Canadian students to receive this year’s Loran scholarship, valued at $100,000.

Shaaban was selected from more than 5,400 applicants from across the country, recognized for his student advocacy, volunteering, leadership efforts and youth sports coaching. And to think, there was a time he was hesitant to apply.

“I thought Loran was a really cool organization and the idea behind it was awesome but I didn’t think winning the award was something possible,” he said. “I thought it was unattainable.”

Prior to last fall, Shaaban hadn’t even heard of the Loran scholarship, until a counsellor at his school mentioned it in a monthly scholarship meeting.

While he initially thought it was a pipe dream, something inspired him to put in for it anyway.

“My idea was to apply for as many scholarships as I can and see if I get something,” he said. “I was hoping it would be a dream come true.”

Shaaban sent in his written application, then went through several rounds involving prerecorded video interviews and Zoom interviews over the winter. In January, the nationwide list was whittled down to just 90 candidates, and he was shortlisted as one of them to attend the final interviews in Ontario.

Up until this point, the day he was shortlisted was the best day of his life.

“It was the same day I heard back from UBC, which is the school I wanted to go to,” he said. “I heard back from both in the same day and I thought I was dreaming.”

Pinching himself all the way to Toronto, Shaaban recalled being nervous throughout the first day of interviews, feeling like he’d let himself down with his responses. But after talking to his family, he set off for the second day, confident and positive, feeling like he nailed his final three interviews.

All that was left was to wait for the news.

“I couldn’t name a single thing I did that week – it was really hard to think about anything else,” he said. “All I could think about was how huge would this be, how life-changing would getting something like this be?”

While it was hard for Shaaban to sleep that week, he finally got the call on a Saturday morning, about 15 minutes after he woke up.

“I was still in bed, I wasn’t expecting the call that early,” he said. “They asked how I was and about my favourite part of the weekend. I told them it was meeting all the other finalists, and their response was, ‘How would you like to meet them again next year? You’ve won the award.’

“I was speechless. I think it took me a solid minute before I even said anything back, I was so shocked.”

Of course, Shaaban accepted the scholarship and will attend UBC in September, taking general sciences with an interest in biochemistry and aspirations to become a doctor.

Shaaban joins a growing list of Loran Scholars from Surrey Schools, including these from recent years:

Congratulations, Ibrahim, on being named a 2026 Loran Scholar!

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School District No.36 (Surrey)