Darian Detta is the 2025 President’s Award of Excellence recipient. This award is presented to a first or second-year student who has taken a full course load (a minimum of 10 courses per academic year) and has achieved the highest cumulative Grade Point Average. The recipient must either intend on continuing at the College to complete one of our four-year degree programs or transferring to another post-secondary institution to complete a four-year degree.
A long-time resident of Cranbrook, Darian applied to the College’s General Studies program hoping for a better sense of direction for his future. In the end, science won out over creative writing (though he still wants to write a novel). As a student, the College’s University Science program taught him a lot about science and even more about perseverance, grit, and how long a human can go without sleep. As a student Chemistry Lab Assistant, he learned such valuable lessons as “don’t accidentally dump sodium hydroxide on yourself”.
Having completed his Certificate of Science, Darian is heading to the big city to attend the University of Toronto in pursuit of a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology. Eventually he hopes to work toward finding treatments for diseases like cancer.
Darian was presented with a $2500 scholarship from College of the Rockies.
Get to know Darian Detta:
- You initially chose to enrol in General Studies to help you decide which educational path you should pursue. What appreciate most about your two areas of interest: science and creative writing?
Both science and creative writing incite a passion in me. I get a swelling feeling in my chest, and I feel as though I’m witnessing true beauty, like I’m looking at the perfect reflection of clouds, mountains, and pine trees on the surface of a still blue lake. With science, things are always connected, the beautiful aurora is the result of ionized particles from the sun colliding with gas molecules in earth’s atmosphere and the mountains are formed by collisions between tectonic plates. Science makes life more beautiful.
Similarly, finding the words I want to use and the things I want to say is like putting together a giant puzzle. I like that I can create new things with writing. Scientists discover things, creatives create things. - You are going off to a large university to pursue the next phase of your education. How do you feel your time at the College has prepared you for that transition?
I think the most important thing I learned at the College is perseverance. I have never had to work so hard in my life and I think that has prepared me for my future education. I could have had a similar experience of overwhelm at any other school but at the College it felt safer to take a fall. I knew my friends, professors, and parents were there to support me. The College helped me try things without the worry that I wouldn’t be able to recover from any missteps. - What stands out to you from your experience as a science student at the College?
My professors and lab instructors definitely stick out. All of them have been very helpful and kind to me. They know my name and I enjoyed being able to communicate with very knowledgeable and personable people and about a subject I love – science. They were always available when I desperately needed help, something that is not as likely at a large university. I also had the opportunity to become the Chemistry Lab Assistant. I was grateful for this opportunity as it taught me a lot about the activities that take place in labs and made me more familiar with scientific processes and the equipment they require. - It appears that research, and helping to develop treatment for diseases, are your ultimate goals. Why is that area of scientific practice appealing to you?
I have had a lot of experience with cancer in my family which affected me greatly, especially losing my Nonna to lung cancer. After she passed away, I was angry and sad and basically vowed to myself that I would try to lessen that pain if I could. I was lucky enough to find the science of life mesmerizing and beautiful. I can’t waste that passion. - Do you foresee writing a story about your Nonna and how she inspired you in the future?
I did write a children’s story as a student at Mt. Baker that was inspired by her selflessness which was selected to be displayed as an “illustrated story walk” on Rotary Way. She spent a lot of her life taking care of others after growing up in the Italian city of Ortona under the control of the Nazi party. She and her siblings lived in extreme poverty and, as the oldest, she was responsible for a lot of the younger children’s care. She was an inspiring woman and I would love to write about her again in the future.