Teen cancer survivor wins millennium scholarship
WATERLOO - A Waterloo teen and cancer survivor has won the City of Waterloo Millennium Scholarship Award.
Surrounded by friends, family and mentors, Paul Cescon was presented with the award by Waterloo Mayor Herb Epp at a city council meeting Monday night.
The 19-year-old is the fifth person to receive the award, given annually by the city to a graduating high school student for outstanding community involvement.
"It was quite an honour," said Cescon, a Waterloo Collegiate Institute grad who received a plaque and a cheque for $1,000.
"There are so many teens in the community who do good things. It was very nice to be recognized."
Cescon is a long-time fundraiser and volunteer for charities.
Diagnosed with Burkitt's lymphoma at the age of eight, Cescon had surgery to remove a tumour in his bowel followed by seven months of chemotherapy. Soon after, the third grader decided to get involved with the Canadian Cancer Society.
"Being diagnosed with cancer was a huge challenge," he said.
"But everybody handles it differently. My way of handling it was to turn adversity into something positive."
Since 1993, Cescon has raised more than $115,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society, where he volunteers almost 300 hours each year. He also sits on its board as the first and only youth member.
Cescon said that over the years, his volunteer work has diversified.
"My second passion is helping children in the Third World," he said.
In his work for Free the Children, an international organization whose mission is to stop child labour, Cescon has raised more than $35,000 to build and equip two schools in Nicaragua.
This fall, Cescon will kick off his first year in the international development studies program at Dalhousie University in Halifax.
bmalott@therecord.com