Zac Greenwood is not your typical leader.
Yes, he got good grades, and naturally excelled in school, but that was part of the problem. For several years, Greenwood, a Chilliwack secondary school graduate, didn't have to study, or put hours into homework to obtain A's and B's; they naturally gravitated to him.
But the thing is , he was bored.
"I was a pretty lazy kid, I didn't apply myself, didn't commit myself, wouldn't really try," he admitted. And yet, "I would still scrape by with A's or B's."
A couple of strong-willed teachers, however, changed that.
In Grade 10 science, Greenwood was called out by teacher Connie Williams. Despite his decent grades, she knew he could do better.
"She wouldn't let me get away with it; told me it wasn't good enough," recalled Greenwood. "I guess that was something I needed to hear, because I started to work harder and look at school differently."
Greenwood also became motivated by his rugby coach Matthew Ferris. Day in and day out, he saw the time and effort Ferris put into the budding athletes and the sport to ensure a great experience for all.
Greenwood wanted to emulate that.
He started working harder at school, got more involved, and has even extended his school year into the summer for the past two years working towards Envirothon, a North American high school environmental education competition that has school teams studying for months in preparation.
This fall, Greenwood will be attending the University of Victoria. He's thinking of "maybe" pursuing medicine – as long as university becomes the challenge he's been looking for – or possibly something in the outdoor forestry field.