草莓污视频导航

Dec. 16, 2020

Schulich student a young Star of Alberta

Escape with STEM creator recognized with provincial volunteer honour
Brennan O'Yeung
Brennan O'Yeung

Brennan O鈥橸eung鈥檚 passion for opening doors to STEM for young people has opened even more doors for him.

The 21-year-old Schulich School of Engineering student has been scooping up many accolades with his 鈥淓scape with STEM鈥 organization, delivering STEM-based escape-room puzzles for young people. He was recently recognized again with a 2020 Stars of Alberta Volunteer Award.

鈥淢y first reaction was almost, 鈥業s this too good to be true?鈥欌 O鈥橸eung laughed about his reaction to getting the email about the award. 鈥淚 had to read it again to make sure it wasn鈥檛 a phishing email or something.鈥

He was among nine recipients who took part in a virtual ceremony on Dec. 4, hosted by Alberta鈥檚 Minister of Culture, Multiculturalism and Status of Women, Leela Aheer.

The First Clue

O鈥橸eung experienced his first escape room in the summer of 2015. He instantly fell in love with the concept, and started building rooms of his own in his basement for family and friends.

The Calgary-born student then enrolled at the Schulich School of Engineering at the 草莓污视频导航, but noticed a need to attract more Indigenous students to the faculty.

鈥淭hat聽was the defining moment for Escape with STEM,鈥 he said.

Escape to the Stars

Before long, O鈥橸eung was taking his ideas to several schools in and around Calgary, where more than 1,000 students have already taken part.

The most-rewarding part for him is watching their eyes light up when they 鈥済et it.鈥

鈥淲atching these kids work through a puzzle and have that 鈥楨ureka!鈥 moment - and say that it鈥檚 awesome - then they鈥檙e really excited to move onto the next puzzle with their group, that鈥檚 the best part,鈥 O鈥橸eung said.

He also has students, parents and educators come up to him afterwards to thank them for igniting a passion they didn鈥檛 even know was there.

鈥淭hose moments really inspire me to continue to do what I鈥檓 doing.鈥

The Floor Plan

Gratitude is a word that seems to define O鈥橸eung鈥檚 responses to the questions thrown at him. He鈥檚 thankful for the support of his family, friends and all those who have worked with him at the Schulich School of Engineering.

鈥淚 was able to learn so much from my classes, but also some of the other events and workshops that they put on display,鈥 O鈥橸eung said. 鈥淪ome of these competitions and experiences help translate into what I offer with Escape with STEM.鈥

While he hasn鈥檛 been able to offer the escape-room experience in person during the COVID-19 pandemic, he has been able to transition his focus to the online experience. That will include more rooms for students in the future, including with the Calgary Board of Education鈥檚 Online Learning Hub.