Grade 12 valedictorian Remi Lemire poses for a photo in Crescent Heights High School's science wing.--NEWS PHOTO BRENDAN MILLER
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
Grade 12 student Remi Lemire recalls learning he was named 2024 valedictorian at Crescent Heights High School after a surprise parade with about 20 people, including his principal, held outside his work May 31.
“Everyone’s telling me, ‘Come check this out,’ and I was just really confused, and then I heard sirens and I thought maybe there’s an accident,” says Lemire. “So I go and I see a bunch of people parading, I was shocked for a couple seconds, and then I realized I’m valedictorian, so I was really happy.”
After applying to no fewer than 16 post-secondary institutions, Lemire has chosen to study molecular and cell biology at the University of California San Diego. He aspires to become a doctor and decided on the West Coast to escape Canadian winters for a couple years.
“California was more where I was focused because I really like the weather, like I absolutely hate the winters here,” jokes Lemire.
Lemire says he is excited to begin his classes that focus on how molecules interact with each other cell in the body in his journey to becoming a medical doctor, and says he also has an interest in computer sciences.
“I just find it interesting. I can wrap my head around it, and some things I can’t, but that’s another thing I like about science,” says Lemire. “I can learn, and there’s always new things coming out and it’s a very big field that’s always developing.”
Since the age of 10 Lemire has been fascinated with numbers and would spend hours adding and multiplying Roman numerals together in his free time.
Last year Lemire was honoured by Medicine Hat’s Public School Division for scoring a perfect 100 per cent on his physics 30-1 Diploma Exam and also speaks French fluently.
Lemire works part time at his family’s local business Blinds by Vertican, which supplies window coverings through Western Canada, and he handles most of the company’s IT issues.
“I’m just doing a lot of helping with upgrading some of the software and running Excel programs.”
However, before Lemire leaves on a plane for the warm weathers and beaches in San Diego, he has to address his fellow classmates during his valedictorian speech at graduation June 13.
Although he is still writing his speech and preparing to recite it on stage, Lemire says he is hoping to convey to his fellow classmates a message of leaving a positive mark during their lifetime.
“It’s just doing as much as you can and becoming involved and trying, because we don’t live forever,” says Lemire. “With the time that you have, just trying to make as big of an impact as you can on society for the better. That’s why I want to become a doctor, I want to be productive, I want to do as much as I can.”
