June 17, 2010
Media contact: Patty Wellborn
Office: 604-795-2819
patty.wellborn@ufv.ca
Abbotsford’s Tanya Jonker wins Governor General’s silver medal
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| Tanya Jonker with VP Academic Eric Davis. |
Tanya Jonker is one of those people who has big dreams. And now, thanks to a lot of hard work and dedication on her part, her dreams are coming true.
Jonker is graduating this week with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree with a major in psychology, and will also receive an intermediate proficiency certificate in Spanish. On the day she receives her degree, Jonker will be presented with the Governor General’s academic silver medal — an award presented annually to the graduating student with the highest grade point average at the bachelor’s degree level.
But she’s not done yet. While Jonker is thrilled to be graduating, she is also excited to embark on the next journey of her academic career. She is heading east and in September will begin a five-year PhD program at the University of Waterloo.
“I love studying psychology and loved the program at UFV,” she says enthusiastically. “And now I feel very lucky to be going on to the next stage of my education.”
Jonker, 24, will be studying cognitive psychology at Waterloo, with a specialization in memory. Her eventual goal is to end up in the research field, or perhaps as a university instructor. She graduated from Abbotsford Christian School seven years ago and spent a year travelling in South America where she did outreach work and also volunteered with Habitat for Humanity. Her time abroad brought on a whole new perspective — and when she returned home she was fuelled and ready to set her mind to her studies.
“Travelling gave me some great opportunities and when I came home I felt driven,” she explains. “I felt this passion to go forward with my studies and I put all of my efforts into studying psychology.”
Jonker is a bright student and her accomplishments are easy to note. But she’s also smart enough to recognize that good students get where they are going mostly because of good instructors. She would not feel comfortable, she says, receiving the silver medal without acknowledging the help and dedication of UFV instructors Andrea Hughes and Wayne Podrouzek.
“They are exemplary teachers,” she says. “They both played a critical role in my honours thesis and answered all my questions almost immediately. The reason why I have done so well in my studies is because of how much effort they put into my studies. I have been so lucky to have such great teachers.”
Jonker is among an elite group at UFV as she is one of the first few students to graduate from the university with the psychology honours degree. The honours option was introduced in September 2008; Jonker was in the first cohort and completed her honours requirement last year. The honours degree program is demanding and requires students with strong work and study ethics — the perfect fit for Jonker, says instructor Wayne Podrouzek, chair of UFV’s psychology department.
“She is probably the most rounded student with whom I have had the pleasure to work,” he says. “For a start, Tanya is very intelligent. However, as Edison is said to have noted, ‘genius is one per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration’, and Ms. Jonker exemplifies this ethic.”
Instructor Andrea Hughes says that Jonker is more than smart. She’s an all-around excellent student, with a great personality, and a willingness to learn — the type of student most instructors can only dream of teaching.
“Tanya is a model student in all ways,” says Hughes. “She is curious, driven and intellectual. She asks the hard questions and won't stop until she has found a satisfactory answer. She goes above and beyond what is required of her. In addition to her stellar academic qualities, Tanya is a truly kind person. And an absolute delight to be around.”
UFV isn’t the only organization that recognizes the high calibre of student that Jonker is. Podrouzek points out that she has also been awarded the prestigious $17,500 Alexander Graham Bell National Sciences and Engineering Research Scholarship.
And he’s not surprised. Podrouzek says Jonker continually displayed strong qualities that have led to her academic success. While she may dream big, he says Jonker is just the type of person who will stop at nothing to ensure those dreams come true.
“The combination of qualities she possesses — intelligence, hard work, diligence, and stick-to-it-iveness — provides her with the tools to be a top-tier researcher and academic,” he adds. “’Poor is the student who does not surpass his master’ is a phrase attributed to da Vinci. It will not be long ere Tanya surpasses me.”
Jonker received her Governor General’s academic silver medal at the June 10 convocation ceremony.
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