Daniel Stokalko, this year's Junior Citizen of the Year, is a difficult person to get a hold of.
Daniel keeps an extremely busy schedule even by the standards of most high school students. Leafing through his many endorsements, I was shocked to learn that not one of his endorsers even knew the full scope of his extracurricular activities.
At North Batttleford Comprehensive School, where he is in Grade 12, he has volunteered his time as a school decorator, played with the school concert band and the jazz band, and has sung with the choir. He is a member of the Cake Decorating Club, work that has also led to him volunteering in the cafeteria and participating in Skills Canada in the baking category. He has participated in the Debate Club, the Karaoke Club and has volunteered for a food drive. But looking to another letter of recommendation teaches me more - in addition to all this, he has worked as the student representative council's treasurer, volunteered with the school store, and attended SRC provincial leadership conferences. As one person put it, "he apparently does not rest!"
Outside of school Daniel is equally active. He is a volunteer at Ukrainian Greek Orthodox churches in both Hafford and North Battleford, helps with the BUH Foundation, volunteers at Bready School each year as Santa, and helps the Rotary Club. Fluent in Ukrainian, he is also a member of the Zorya Ukrainian Dance Club.
He does all these things, incredibly, while working 20 hours a week at Sobeys. Of course, the Citizen of the Year award is not given simply for accomplishments, but for personal qualities as well. Here, again, his references speak for themselves. One stated, "Daniel will be one of those students you do not forget over your teaching career as he stands out as someone who made a difference to your school and is a student you can relate to on a higher level."
Others spoke broadly of his commitment to improving the "health, knowledge, spirituality and emotional well-being" of Battlefords residents. The same writer also emphasized that, though Daniel seems to have stretched himself thin, he has a sense of perspective and the maturity to cut back. When his marks began to suffer because of his extensive volunteer activities, he cut back on his commitments, leaving the NBCHS Jazz Band.
"Life is boring if you don't do things. And the more you do, the more you're prepared for real life," Daniel said by way of explanation for his busy schedule.
As for the future, Daniel is hoping to go into health sciences at the University of Saskatchewan next fall, for oncologic pharmacology or to become a registered nurse in oncology or geriatrics. He has some time to choose his path though, because his first year will be the same regardless of which field he goes into.
"Both [oncology and geriatrics] have been big parts of my life. I've had many family members who have had cancer and I think I have an understanding of how [the elderly] like to be treated. They don't want to be treated as senior citizens, they want to be treated as people. Same thing with cancer patients -they don't want to be treated like they have cancer because they live with that every day."
He also hopes to continue his extracurricular life in the University of Saskatchewan community, with Ukrainian organizations on campus.
Though he will be studying in Saskatoon, Daniel does not think that his connection to the Battlefords will be diminished. He expects to return NBCHS whenever possible to help with activities, and will continue his job with Sobeys on weekends.
Unsurprisingly, Daniel's commitments to the Battlefords are extensive enough that he hopes to return here to work as a nurse or a pharmacologist after graduation, either at a nursing home or at Battlefords Union Hospital.
Looking back at this article, I realized that there was probably an extracurricular activity, or two, or three that I had neglected to mention. But I realized that this itself spoke volumes. None of his referrers, nor this reporter, could keep track of all of Daniel's many commitments and accomplishments. But Daniel doesn't just have to keep track of his commitments, he fulfills them.
