Gabrielle Fortin, a volleyball player from the Université de Montréal Carabins, impressed both on the court and at the school desk, winning the scholarship for academic excellence offered by the Aléo Foundation.
The psychology student achieved brilliant grades, holding an academic average of 4.18 out of 4.3.
“It is certain that I will try very hard to reach this level. I was surprised because I wasn’t exactly expecting to hear any news, knowing that there are many other athletes who are doing well academically as well. I’m not very surprised to have it because I work very hard to get its results, it’s kind of a reward for my efforts,” she says.
Those who aspire to a doctorate in their field in a few years place high demands on their studies and leave little room for anything else. When she’s not hitting balls at the gym, she’s sticking her nose in her books.
“I love what I do, so it’s definitely important that I put in the effort. The promotion is really limited, she adds. The most important thing is planning, I have two hours of training every night in addition to my strength training phases. As soon as I have a free moment in my day, I dedicate it to my studies. Mostly I play volleyball or study.
On the sporting front, Gabrielle Fortin landed a spot with the Carabins in her freshman year. She was named Most Outstanding Rookie and worked her way into the first team in 2021-22.
“I arrived at the university in the middle of the pandemic, so that changed plans a bit. The level between CEGEP and the university is quite high, so it took me some time to adapt. I trained individually or as a team for a year and a half without a match so I could properly adapt. i play for fun Yes, I want to be the best version, but I do it to have fun,” she says, also mentioning that her sister passed on this passion to her.
Born in La Tuque, she left home around the age of 14 to join the Estacades de Trois-Rivières to continue her sporting advancement. She finished her college career with Cégep Édouard-Montpetit. The latter believes that her departure as a teenager forged a strong character that allows her to stand out today.
“I’m definitely more independent because I started doing it at a young age. I think it took a good base of character strength to make that decision, my parents didn’t necessarily approve of that at first. Of course that helps me today,” she says.
Éolie Délisle: born to help
University of Montreal Carabins golfer Éolie Delisle swapped clubs for syringes to help during the pandemic. She excelled enough to earn the Aléo Foundation Leadership Fellowship.
The last few years have not been easy for the medical student. In the early months of the pandemic, she was taken home like all students and decided to volunteer to help vaccinate children against COVID-19 at Sainte-Justine Hospital.
“I wanted to take advantage of the fact that we were at a distance and couldn’t go to hospitals to put me in the bath. During my whole first year I was at home and couldn’t do anything. As soon as I knew we could get vaccinated, I jumped at the chance. I finally told myself I will be able to connect with patients and give meaning to my studies and where I wanted to go in life.
This gesture was very natural for the one who wanted to know more about her future profession.
“Just for the techniques it gave me something extra to pack in my luggage. Giving injections is something I will routinely do. Anything to do with consent and the human aspect as well, to make sure the patients understood it well. It’s like the first time I was confronted with people who had concerns, I thought it was a good backdrop. I’ve always liked pediatrics,” she says, saying she hasn’t made a decision about her future in medicine yet.
This athlete came to golf late. Very athletic, she quickly focused on alpine ski racing from a young age. She started in high school at the Collège Trinité in Saint-Bruno and literally fell in love with the sport of small ball. When she joined Cégep André-Grasset, she decided to start a collegiate golf team and ended up at the top of the women’s rankings in 2016. She finds several advantages there, such as the fact that it is a summer sport, which has less of an impact on her studies. .
“This is really a decisive advantage. Most of our season takes place in the summer, so I don’t have an internship and can focus on my studies and sport.
A native of Sainte-Julie, she also won the Female Leadership and Community Involvement award twice, in 2021 and 2022.