'Driven, capable, curious and kind': Meet 5 incoming U of T students

Thousands of students will arrive at the University of Toronto’s three campuses in the coming weeks, bringing with them a mix of anticipation, excitement and ambition.

From across Canada and around the world, these curious, creative thinkers and future leaders each took unique journeys to get here and will now chart their own educational paths through university and beyond.  

U of T News spoke with five incoming students about why they chose to study at U of T, what they’re looking forward to most and their aspirations for the future.   

A mind for math

Gloria Oladapo looks forward to furthering her love of learning as a mathematics and physical sciences student.

Growing up in Lagos, Nigeria, and moving to Winnipeg with her family at age 11, Oladapo credits the rigorous Nigerian curriculum with nurturing her academic curiosity. “I did not like memorizing anything,” says Oladapo. “I’d rather keep practising and solving things on my own.”  

After excelling in an introductory precalculus class in Grade 10, Oladapo was encouraged by a teacher to pursue an advanced mathematics track, deepening her confidence in the subject.

Beyond the classroom, she organized fundraisers for a children’s hospital and local food banks as co-president of her school's Interact club. She also co-created a website to help new immigrants to Manitoba access health, education and career resources, earning top honours at a Tech Manitoba pitch competition.

Drawn to U of T by stories of inspiring alumni, Oladapo is eager to explore opportunities that span both academic interests and hobbies – and is already checking out U of T clubs focused on everything from actuarial science to crochet.

Protecting the planet 

Soham Chhabra brings a passion for sustainability to U of T Scarborough’s computer science co-op program.  

Growing up in the Indian city of Panipat, a textile recycling hub known as the “cast-off capital of the world,” Chhabra witnessed the environmental cost of industrial activity in the form of air pollution, clogged drains and polluted waterways

After learning about carbon footprints in Grade 8, Chhabra launched a project to audit his school's emissions – a program that was later scaled to seven other schools. He also explored the use of AI for emissions monitoring and championed local environmental causes.

He says his U of T acceptance as a Lester B. Pearson International Scholar resulted in a family celebration complete with halwa, a festive sweet, and singing and dancing all night. “No one slept,” says Chhabra, who credits his grandparents with inspiring him to pursue environmental action.  

At U of T, Chhabra plans to explore the entrepreneurship ecosystem and hopes to launch a climate tech venture. “Computer science... is a tool which is given to us to really heal the world,” he says.      

Understanding the brain 

Madel Peduzzi, who grew up in Italy and moved to Switzerland when she was 13, was drawn to U of T Mississauga’s psychological and brain sciences program because of her longstanding fascination with biology – particularly the nervous system.  

But the subject also resonated at a personal level. Her mother sustained a brain injury when she was younger and, thanks to hours of research, became something of an expert on brain sciences programs.

“She [did] a lot of research on every single university and she helped me choose the best ones… she did a great job with that,” says Peduzzi, a pianist and dancer who also served as director of her high school newspaper.

Peduzzi hopes to eventually attend medical school and focus on neurology or gynecology. She says U of T’s program flexibility was a big selling point over schools in Switzerland or the U.K. since it allows her to explore different paths to her goal.  

While the prospect of starting a new life in Toronto feels daunting, Peduzzi plans to ease the transition by connecting with other international students.   

A love of life sciences 

Raluca Voina’s passion for science was sparked by a school research project on tissue regeneration in the axolotl, a freshwater amphibian. Now, as a life sciences student in the Faculty of Arts & Science, she dreams of one day applying that regenerative capacity to humans.

“I was looking for a place where I was able to be engaged in a diverse range of courses that not only have a lot of breadth, but also go very far in depth,” she says of her decision to attend U of T.  

Growing up in Ottawa as the daughter of Romanian immigrants, Voina was a shy kid who found her footing through theatre and public speaking. She went on to serve as her school’s head girl, launching a schoolbook- and food-drive fundraiser. She also grew her high school chapter of DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) from eight members to nearly 40 as president.  

A member of the inaugural cohort of the Wolf Scholars Program, Voina says she is keen to get involved in the Wolf Scholars community and explore intersections of science, storytelling and business.  

Building better robots 

With a passion for robotics, Munjal Patel is looking forward to pursuing an engineering science degree in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering.  

"In the first two years, you get to learn a lot of different things... you can look at a problem from different angles – a financial perspective, a biological perspective,” he says. “That gives you insight that's hard to capture elsewhere.”

Patel served as captain of his school's robotics team, developing both technical expertise and the ability to translate ideas into actionable plans. He also led a Model UN as secretary general and played violin as concertmaster of his school’s string orchestra.

He says there were three things that enabled him to be named one of the Toronto District School Board’s top students this year: trying his best in every subject, learning something new from every experience and drawing on the support of his community.  

At U of T, Patel is excited to join various engineering design teams and meet a community he describes as “driven, capable, curious and kind.”