Chilliwack secondary's student council president, Chelsea Lewicki, knows how to take a breath from a busy life to appreciate the beauty around her.
As part of her application to the University of the Fraser Valley's Bachelor in Fine Arts, Lewicki submitted a highly creative self-portrait, that didn't show her at all. Instead, the visionary student took a large old picture frame and molded a broken-up tree limb around it. She donned the form with an antique scarf and hat, and shot a photo of everything in the sunset.
This represented her old soul, her love of antique styles, the way she accomplishes a lot with a quiet nature.
"It was supposed to be a self-portrait, but I took it to a different level," said Lewicki. "I like to have things that, at the end of it, it's caught you. Like a mind's map, where you're trying to figure out what each thing means to you specifically. I find it interesting that I could go so many ways with just one piece of something."
UFV loved the idea, and Lewicki will start at the school in September, focusing on photography and new media.
This creative depth is a change of pace for the busy school organizer, who was a force propelling Chilliwack secondary's Hello, Good-bye mass reunion forward this year. Lewicki spent several days a week for six months talking with people, from students to alumni to city hall staff, to ensure the night was a success. Unafraid of speaking with strangers, Lewicki invited everyone she called to help out at the event.
Lewicki has put her new media skills to good use, by managing the website for local charity Wanted Children Foundation. The foundation gathers donations for an orphanage in Nigeria started by a Chilliwack resident.
The web experience is something that Lewicki hasn't gotten at school. Through this full-time volunteer position, she's learned how to code, and create photo galleries, and design pages.
She would love to direct photography on movie sets in the future, and has her eye on transfering to UFV's sister school in Wales, U.K, after first year because of the area's robust film industry. She'll scope out the University of South Wales in early July during a family trip.
Wherever she ends up, Lewicki is sure to inspire and lead others.