FCT recently had the honour of awarding the ninth annual William G. Davis Scholarship to Owen Luongo. He’s a reflective, driven young man with a ready smile and the determination to overcome any obstacle in his way. For Owen, this award means a way to continue down the path he’s been able to build for himself.
“Ever since I was a kid, I was always interested in science and math, the natural world and especially building things,” he said. “Going into high school I had my eyes set on engineering, with a focus on automotive engineering or motorsports, and I know I need post-secondary education to pursue it as a career.”
Owen’s family was there showing their pride and support—he’ll be the first member of his family to pursue higher education. “Over the past few years I’ve worked really hard at getting into my program, and I’m really happy to say that I’ve accepted an offer from the University of Waterloo for mechanical engineering,” he said.
Vandana Paliwal is Vice President of human resources and operational effectiveness at FCT, and expressed her pride in the ongoing scholarship award program.
“We believe in supporting youth in the communities where we live and work,” she said.” FCT works with community partners across Canada, in every city where we have an office. I’ll share a recent example: we’ve heard wonderful feedback from our colleagues at our Dartmouth office, how meaningful it is for them to be able to give back locally to the next generation within that community.”
“This award is in the same spirit,” she continued. “It’s named for William G. Davis, who was a member of our board, and of the Halton community. We want to honour him and his dedication to education, and help serve the community where he lived and worked.”
This year marks the first award from FCT in partnership with the Halton Learning Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides resources and aid to local youth in need.
“Our partnership with the Halton Learning Foundation is a fantastic opportunity to dig deeper and help youth in this community who may be facing barriers to their success,” said Vandana. “They have the desire to pursue post-secondary education, but it may not be an option financially.”
“They just need some extra support—being able to invest in them, provide that support and help them overcome the barriers in front of them means a great deal to us.”
Owen knows what it’s like to overcome those barriers. “The process of this scholarship has helped me realize how much I’ve overcome in order to get here,” he explained.
“Almost 10 years ago, I was diagnosed with narcolepsy—it’s a neurological disorder that interferes with the brain’s sleep and wake cycles. It’s affected so many different areas of my life from social to academic to just my sleep and health.”
“It put me behind my peers, and I had to work extra hard to catch up. Having an inability to stay awake makes time management crucial, and I’ve had to get very good at it, and at advocating for myself. I think the lessons I’ve learned from having to overcome that definitely have put me ahead in the long run, but it’s a constant journey that I’m still taking.”
The next stage of Owen’s journey has already begun, as he excitedly explained. “The degree I’ll be pursuing has a work component to it, so I’m doing a lot right now to prepare myself. I’ve recently become a trained pit lane official as well as a certified track rescue technician. It’s been a great experience aligned with my interests, and a fantastic opportunity to meet people in my field.”
“I’m going to be working in the pit for this year’s Toronto Indie, and I’m really excited for that. There are so many different opportunities in the motorsports industry, and I can’t wait to see what might be out there for me.”
“If I could land with any team, I’d love to work for Ferrari. It would be amazing to explore more of my Italian heritage and work for a team that has such a great history of success. And it can be done! I was looking at Ferrari’s page and it said one person from the University of Waterloo had been hired there—so there’s hope that I’ll be the second.”
We’re invested in our community, which is why helping Owen and others like him access the education they need to reach their full potential means so much to us. Learn more about our initiatives, and how our colleagues are working to make a difference in the communities where we live and work.
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