Andréanne Leclerc
École secondaire Pointe-aux-Trembles

Five years ago, Andréanne Leclerc started rock climbing, a sport that enables her to take on challenges, persevere and surpass herself. And she no doubt excels in this discipline because she puts just as much energy into it as she does in her daily life. For the Secondary 4 student at Pointe-aux-Trembles high school, half-measures are few and far between. Be it during a humanitarian trip to Costa Rica, as a volunteer at a blood drive or as a member of the student choir, she makes all the necessary effort to hang in there and attain her goals.

“My main quality is perseverance. And I developed this quality over the years thanks to rock climbing. It’s a sport that consists of 99% defeat and 1% success because you often fail but always want to give it another try. And though attaining your objective is rewarding, you always want to move on to the next challenge. When you spend weeks training for a few minutes of success, you can but progress,” recounts with enthusiasm Andréanne, who is one of the rising stars at the junior level in Québec.

A model student with highly impressive academic grades, Andréanne Leclerc never takes her commitments lightly. If she agrees to get involved, it’s because she wants to and because she hopes her contribution will be on a par with her qualities and ambitions. Her trip to Costa Rica shows just how out-and-out committed she really is. As well as participating in the project’s fund-raising campaign, she exhibited a great deal of motivation after she arrived, working to clean up a beach to ensure the survival of baby turtles and repainting the walls of an elementary school. “I would have liked to have done more. I would have liked to have got to know the people we stayed with better and spend more time with them. I hope to be able to do it again some day,” she says.

Andréanne has been using this same determination to make a difference by working since 2008 as a volunteer at her school’s annual blood drive. Although she is not old enough to donate blood herself, the 15-year-old knows how to be very persuasive when it comes to inviting adults to do so. “Andréanne sets herself apart for her strong leadership skills and her ability to successfully carry out different projects,” asserts teacher Lucie Vandal.

Andréanne’s time is not solely taken up by sports and community involvement. She also makes good use of her creative energies through various art forms. In addition to writing poetry, songs and even a book, she joined the school choir with which she performs during the holidays and she even took part in an exhibition show at the local finals of the Secondaire en spectacle competition. And, as she isn’t satisfied just appearing on stage, she also finds time to be part of the school’s technical team. As a member of the team, Andréanne works in the wings and puts her talents to good use overseeing the sound or lighting during different events organized at the school.

“Participating in community life is important to me. I consider myself to be very open to others and I feel the need to breathe at the same rhythm as the society I live in. I want to be better attuned to the people around me and help them and this is probably why I want to become a doctor,” Andréanne asserts.

Andréanne strongly manifested this desire to get closer to others last summer when she followed a one-month training course to become a camp counsellor at a summer camp in Denholm in the Outaouais region. When she returned, as she wasn’t yet old enough to be hired at a camp, she worked for a week as a volunteer at the Bois-de-Boulogne camp in Montréal.

“Thanks to this experience, and all the others, I always feel as though I am making progress, and increasing my knowledge and abilities. I can improve my leadership skills and boost my self-confidence too. That’s why I love rock climbing so much. Each triumph enables me to move forward. It’s the same in every aspect of my life and this is why I get involved so much,” she concludes.

Andréanne Leclerc
École secondaire Pointe-aux-Trembles