Nunavut pre-med student receives Laura Gauthier scholarship

Art Sateana of Rankin Inlet, seen here in a photo from the Nunavut Youth Abroad program website, is the 2017 recipient of the Laura Ulluriaq Gauthier Scholarship. Sateana is now a student at the University of Manitoba.

A 21-year-old pre-med student at the University of Manitoba, Art Sateana of Rankin Inlet, is the 2017 recipient of the Qulliq Energy Corp.’s Laura Ulluriaq Gauthier Scholarship.

Sateana, reached in Winnipeg, said he had a feeling of relief, happiness and pride when he learned he had been chosen as the 2017 recipient.

“I was in amazement that among all the applications I was selected,” he said.

“This scholarship means a lot—the fact that my hard work and my dedication and my motivation to go to school was recognized, that I have the potential to continue.”

Launched in 2001, the $5,000 scholarship is presented annually to a student pursuing a post-secondary education.

Sateana, a graduate of Rankin Inlet schools and the Ottawa-based Nunavut Sivuniksavut college program for Nunavut Inuit youth, is now in his third year of studies in the Health Careers Access Program of the University of Manitoba, with the goal of becoming a family doctor in Nunavut.

He said he expects to receive his bachelors degree in science in June 2019 and hopes to enter medical school in September that year.

Right now, Sateana is taking biology, chemistry and bioscience and ethics. The courses, he said, are challenging and difficult and require long hours of study—”but you learn something.”

This past summer, he worked as a medical intake clerk at the Kivalliq Health Centre, booking patients and assisting visiting specialists.

Before attending the University of Manitoba, Sateana also participated in the Nunavut Youth Abroad Canadian Program in 2013, with a work placement in Ottawa. While in Ottawa, Sateana participated in a “mini-med school” program at the University of Ottawa, which helped fuel his desire to become a doctor, the NYA website said.

“Art’s academic journey has been both admirable and inspirational. Despite the additional burden of taking extra classes to meet class pre-requisites in conjunction with his university courses, Art has excelled and achieved an A plus average,” said Johnny Mike, Nunavut’s minister responsible for Qulliq Energy Corporation, in the Nunavut legislature on Sept. 15.

“Art’s commendable volunteer work as a soccer and gymnastics coach in his community, as well as his generosity in helping his fellow students in spite of his workload, makes Art a worthy recipient of the QEC’s scholarship.”

Mike said Sateana stated in his autobiographical essay that he “grew up with an understanding of the value of serving others, and the positive impact it can have on the lives we touch.”

“The late Laura Gauthier’s community spirit is mirrored in Art’s determination to help others,” Mike said.

Laura Ulluriaq Gauthier, originally from Pangnirtung, died suddenly of a brain aneurysm in her sleep at the age of 30 in 2000.

A September 1999 issue of Time magazine had named her one of Canada’s young people to watch.

Gauthier was an assistant deputy minister in Nunavut’s executive and intergovernmental affairs department, where she played a major role in the formation of the Nunavut Power Corp., which later became the Qulliq Energy Corp.

“The scholarship honours Laura’s role in advocating for an independent Nunavut energy utility and also celebrates her community work and giving spirit,” Mike said.

Gauthier’s family members, Stephane and Amanda Kilabuk, chose Sateana for the 2017 award based on his academic excellence and outstanding community involvement.

“I am pleased that QEC is able to financially contribute to Art’s academic journey,” said Mike in a news release.

“Art’s generous spirit and willingness to give back to the community honours the government leader after which the longstanding scholarship is named.”