Cochrane High School’s Ava Zarowny loves school and soccer, and the 17-year-old is off to the University of Victoria this fall to pursue her academic dreams.
This marks the second year in a row a multi-talented, humble 17-year-old CHS valedictorian has chosen University of Victoria, as Hannah Tas took the same path last year at this time.
Zarowny and Tas are friends, having once played on the same soccer team at the school, so she will know at least one student when she checks in on the west coast campus in September.
She’ll miss her little brothers (who apparently already have plans for the soon-to-be vacant extra bedroom) and also the teammates she had in soccer, basketball and track and field.
A torn ACL from playing basketball this year will prevent her from playing soccer or basketball for about a year in Victoria, but she didn’t sound too disappointed.
Zarowny will study biology until she decides on an area of specialization, and has her sights on maybe dentistry as a career. She is working in a dental office in Cochrane between now and September.
The multi-sport athlete said when she looks back on her years at CHS, it’s not the sports she’ll recall fondly.
“When I think of high school I think of the people I played with, not necessarily the sport itself,” she said.
“Honestly, I love school. I know a lot of people didn’t love it and have different experiences, but I loved it,” she said. “I had really good friends and I liked the teachers.”
One teacher in particular earned a shout out from the 2024 valedictorian.
The sciences are special to Zarowny because of Lara Pedersen.
“I love her. I think she’s the reason I like chemistry and biology so much. I loved being in her class, and she’s the reason I’m taking a science degree,” Zarowny said.
She said it’s clear Pedersen loves what she does, and it rubs off on the students.
Zarowny’s only been to Victoria once, when she was going into Grade 10, and hiked the famous West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island. She said she’d like to maybe try it again.
“It was really challenging, and I hadn’t done much hiking before,” she said.
For now, Zarowny’s excited about her upcoming challenge at UVic, and living a life without snow.
