By Cara McKenna

William George-Thomas just graduated from high school in June, but he already has a resume that would be envied by people who have been in the workforce for years.

“I decided to be more aware about what’s going on in the world,” he explained. “At the start of the year I wasn’t expecting to be really time committed.”

More than 500 hours of work later, and William has made it out of high school and onto summer break. But somehow the 18-year-old’s calendar is still hectic. In fact, he had to schedule this meeting weeks in advance.

He sits attentively at a desk at the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation’s office that belongs to his mother, who is a councillor for the nation.

He’s not what one would think of as a typical teenager, which makes his demeanour both complex and dual. He reads business books and Harry Potter. He flies around the world doing advocacy work, but has never lived away from home. He speaks knowledgeably about world issues, but still uses high school slang.

During his Grade 12 year at Seycove Secondary School, William sacrificed a lot of free time to become involved in various international causes.

“During the school year I pretty much was living on a schedule,” he said.

Over spring break, he was building houses in an impoverished village in the Dominican Republic with a group of his classmates in a humanitarian club. On Friday nights, he was at meetings for Create Change, a charity that sends girls to school in Ghana.

He also dedicated much of his time to the North Shore Youth Parliament to satiate his passion for politics. He worked two jobs, one as a youth worker with the nation and another at a restaurant. And he was still an A student.

But even though he spent the year scheduling naps into his calendar, all that work has now paid off. George-Thomas is preparing to move across the country to attend Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, where he’ll be studying political science and international development and relations.

When he’s asked whether he plans to come back and work for Tsleil-Waututh, he said he’s leaving it open. “Usually just my answer is always, I just go with the flow,” he said. “Fate will speak itself.”

He said he’s been asked that question a lot, which is not really surprising, given what he’s already accomplished and who’s in his family.

His mother, Deanna George, is often involved in local causes and sits on band council. And his aunt, Carleen Thomas, ran for the NDP in the last federal election. Another aunt, Leah George-Wilson, is a successful lawyer in Vancouver.

But before – and if – George-Thomas joins them at home, he wants to see more of what’s outside his community.

“I guess the only way I can really see myself continuing to grow is by travelling the world, by soaking in all different cultures,” he said.

By the time this issue of the Sentinel goes to press, he will already have taken off on a trip to New Zealand and Australia with a group of other youth from Tsleil-Waututh where he’ll get to learn about the customs of other Indigenous communities.

Even though it will be hard for many people at Tsleil-Waututh to see George-Thomas go away long-term this fall, his family will be proud to see him move on to undoubtedly even bigger things.

He’ll be entering university at the same time as 95 girls from Ghana who his group at Create Change will be sending to school through their efforts, which makes George-Thomas feel proud.

He references a famous Martin Luther King Jr. quote: “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”

Then we go back to talking about video games.