Madeleine Pawlowski is no stranger to community service or prestigious awards.
The 19-year-old graduate of école Secondaire Sainte Marguerite d'Youville (ESSMY) was one of eight young Albertans announced this week as winners of the 2011 Queen's Golden Jubilee Citizenship Medals.
"I think it's good to get some recognition but, more importantly, I feel like it's a really great way to get recognition to organizations that I'm working with, and to talk about the work that I'm doing," she said by phone Wednesday from Santo Domingo, Costa Rica.
Pawlowski was unable to attend Tuesday's ceremony because she's currently working as the international program co-ordinator for international development with Fundación Operación Gaya Internacional in Costa Rica.
Lt.-Gov. Donald Ethell presented the medals to the outstanding young citizens at Government House during a formal ceremony on Tuesday afternoon.
"Throughout her reign, Queen Elizabeth II has been motivated by one simple yet powerful motto: 'I serve'," he said. "These remarkable young citizens have already proven that they are driven by the same commitment to serving others and I have every confidence that they will continue to share their strength, compassion and leadership for many years to come."
Also honoured were Garrett Ellis of Cold Lake, Natasha Gacek of Tofield, Ryan Jacula and Stephanie Li of Edmonton, Samantha Knight of Calgary, Carling Matejka of Ponoka and Charles Nokes of Lacombe.
The eight were selected for their outstanding contributions to their communities through good citizenship, leadership, community service and volunteerism. They were chosen out of the 160 most recent winners of the Premier's Citizenship Award. All graduated from high school in 2011.
In addition to their medals, each winner receives a $5,000 prize to be used for personal development and general education. Both the Premier's Citizenship Award and the Queen's Golden Jubilee Citizenship Medal programs are administered by Alberta Culture and Alberta Enterprise and Advanced Education.
Making the world a better place
Pawlowski is currently enrolled in the international studies program at McGill University in Montréal. Last year, she was named as a recipient of the prestigious Loran Award. Granted by the Canadian Merit Scholarship Foundation, it's based on character, service and leadership potential.
Her resumé contains an extensive list of volunteer efforts. While still a student at ESSMY, she was involved with groups including the Amnesty International Club, Oxfam Club, Write-A-Thon, Vow of Silence and Taste for Justice. She is still a member of the Y4K Justice Club, where she fundraised for Ubuntu Edmonton to help support widows of the Rwandan genocide.
She has volunteered for Habitat for Humanity, the Salvation Army and Athletes for Africa. She also helped organize a three-day youth symposium for the Red Cross and participated in the Global Voices – Shape Your World Youth Action Conference and Global Youth Symposium. In 2010, she travelled to Ethiopia with the Change Your World Leadership Tour.
Pawlowski is currently with a volunteer-run organization of youths who are working to empower other youths to contribute and make meaningful impacts in the development of their communities.
She has two months left in her stint with FundaOGI. So far, she has already seen change happen and she's working hard to make more.
"I met at the Canadian embassy with the protocol counsellor. We're just trying to develop support with Canadian organizations and schools to help more youth to come to Costa Rica to undergo the human rights and leadership training that we're running," she said.
"It's been really hectic and really good. The dream of the foundation right now is to build a regional training centre for youth that we'll bring from all over the world."
She joked that the $5,000 included with her latest honour would be put to good use.
"It does mean that I can afford food," she said, "so that's always good."
