Sydney Scholten, from Moncton, New Brunswick, developed a strong appreciation for nature at a young age while exploring wildlife in coastal St. Andrew’s, New Brunswick. Her relationship with Acadia goes back a long way to when she first visited as a young girl while her father Ben Scholten was responsible for building the Harriet Irving Botanical Gardens. She entered Acadia’s biology program in September 2016, where she is fulfilling her long-held dream of attending Acadia and completing scientific research in the K.C. Irving Environmental Science Centre. Originally from Saint John, New Brunswick, Sydney moved to Moncton to pursue an opportunity with the New Brunswick High Performance Soccer Academy and has competed at the national level. Sydney plans to vie for a spot with the Acadia Axewomen varsity soccer team. In addition to being a student council vice-president, Sydney is a Special Olympics volunteer coach and has been on the Principal’s Honours List each year of high school. In her senior year of high school, Sydney received the 2015-16 Student Government MVP Award to recognize her outstanding contribution to student government throughout her high school career.