University of Western Ontario student Martin Badowski is the 2009 recipient of the Tim Hickman Memorial Health and Safety Scholarship.
Named in honour of the 21-year-old Hickman, who died in 1996 at age 21 following an explosion from an ice-resurfacing machine at part-time job with the City of London, the $3,000 scholarship is awarded annually to students in an occupational and/or public health and safety related program.
Badowski, in his third year of the Honours Specialization Health Science Program at Western, has chalked up an impressive array of work and volunteer experience in health, safety and community-support endeavours. This includes medical facilities in Toronto, as an Urgent Care Clinic volunteer at the Trillium Health Centre and summer employment as a Patient Flow Coordinator in the Department of Radiation and Onocology at Princess Margaret Hospital.
Badowski currently assists rehabilitation therapists in programs for residents of Mount Hope Long Term Care Facility aimed at increasing mobility, strength and overall fitness through stretching and walking exercises.
This past February, Badowski led a group of 15 fellow students on an Alternative Spring Break experience – working with community partners that support the local immigrant and refugee population. Their activities ranged from conducting workshops to organizing social events.
He is also in the process of developing a website for Western to increase involvement in volunteer activities through a matching of student skills and interests to the opportunities and needs of various non-profit and community organizations.
In 2008, Badowski received a Canadian Millennium Excellence Award and was awarded the Western National In-Course Scholarship as well as making the Dean’s List. He was recently awarded the University Students’ Council’s Honor W Award, and the Western Student Award of Merit.
Upon graduation in 2010, Martin hopes to pursue a career in medicine. Though not completely decided on a specialty, he wants his future to lie in community and public health-related fields.