St. Mark Student Looking Forward To Future In Mechanical Engineering

Focus on Youth, By Phill Potter

Name: Kaden Smith

Age: 17   

Address: Manotick

School: Osgoode Township High

Grade: 12

Parents: Mom: Alka Moorjani, Dad: Garril Smith

Sister: Mira Smith (15), grade 10, Osgoode Township High

Part-time Work: “I’m working part-time as a lifeguard for the City of Ottawa at Sawmill Creek Pool.”

Favourite Subjects: The subjects I’m taking this year are French, Fitness, Physics, Advanced Functions, English, Calculus and Vectors, and Chemistry. I enjoy fitness a lot, because it gives me the chance to exercise and play some sports during school.”

What do you enjoy reading for pleasure? 

“I enjoy reading all sorts of material. I mainly read novels, because I enjoy a good story: nonfiction, science fiction, historical fiction and thrillers.”

Favourite Author:

“My favourite author is Jack Carr. His series The Terminal List is really well written. The plots are full of twists, and are very engaging. His books are great to read, because he has firsthand experience in the field in which his books are based.”

Greatest Accomplishment:

“When I was 13 I participated in the Gold Rideau Trail Hike along with 3 other Scouts. It took place over the course of 2 days and the hike was just under 40 km through the Marlborough Forest. There was no adult supervision. We were responsible for planning our route, meals, and what equipment to bring. We had to pack everything and organize it so that each person had approximately 70 lbs to carry. This was quite an accomplishment for me, because I had never gone on a trip like this before where no adults were with us, and we camped on our own overnight.”

School Activities:

“During grades 9 and 10 I was a trumpet player in the Concert Band. When the pandemic hit, that put a stop to a lot of school activities. I went out and found a job at Suntech Greenhouses where I worked full time during the summer, and part-time during the school year. During this time I also kept up with lifeguarding courses in order to get my certification. This year I’m on the school Lacrosse Team. I have never played lacrosse before and it was great to find a new sport to play. I like trying new sports to challenge myself and see how fast I can pick it up.”

Other Activities/Interests:

“I really love downhill skiing. It’s so fun to spend the day on the mountain with some friends and try new tricks. I love the rush of flying off bigger and bigger jumps, as well as skiing down a technical run as fast as I can. Every time I go out, I find new ways to improve. I also enjoy playing basketball, softball and ball hockey.”

Career Goals:

“Next year I’m going into mechanical engineering. I have not decided which university I am going to yet, but Carleton University is a frontrunner. I would like to work in the automotive industry as an engineer, because I’m interested in all kinds of motorsports; like rally racing, Formula 1, moto GP etc. While at Carleton I would like to join the Formula SAE team since I feel like that would be a neat experience. It would give me the opportunity to work with a team to build a Formula style race car, and compete against other schools across North America in a three day event.”