For involvement in her Catholic community, Sullivan was chosen as the top all-round Catholic high school student at Bishop Tonnos Catholic Secondary School in Ancaster, Ont. And on Oct. 29, she will be one of about 150 students receiving a Catholic Student Award at the 28th annual Fr. Patrick Fogarty Award Dinner in Toronto.

Run by the Catholic Education Foundation of Ontario (CEFO), the awards recognize students in both English and French Catholic high schools across the province.

“The students are recognized for an outstanding contribution to the Catholic environment of their school,” said Michael Monk, chairperson for the dinner and CEFO executive secretary.

Now a first-year international development student at the University of Guelph, Sullivan kept busy during her high school years. In Grade 12, she was the spiritual representative on student council. Among many other activities, she took part in Relay for Life, organized Halloween for Hunger (which resulted in donations of more than 2,500 kilograms of food), helped with the Ancaster Food Drive and was involved in the Out of the Cold breakfast program and Best Buddies program.

And as a member of her school’s Catholic Leadership Interdisciplinary Program, which helps students become responsible citizens in the community and the world, Sullivan found herself in Bella Bella, B.C., as part of a cultural exchange program. The northern B.C. aboriginal community has a population of about 1,500 people, she said.

“We stayed in their homes and they showed us their culture. It was really awesome to experience a different culture because where I live, everyone is the same.”

Now pursuing a career in international development, Sullivan said she would have had no idea what she wanted to do if it weren’t for all her extracurricular activities in high school.

“What made me want to go down this route was going to the Dominican Republic and seeing those less fortunate,” said Sullivan.

And while she didn’t have to be Catholic to be so active in her community, her faith gave her a platform through which she was able to participate in all these various activities, she said.

“I just wanted to expand further on my faith through doing volunteer activities, through doing the work of Jesus... and helping those less fortunate helped me expand on that.”