Who, What, Why: First-year Ayaan Jeraj awarded King Charles III Coronation Medal

Ayaan Jeraj, a first-year student in the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business from Vancouver, Canada, has been awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal.

Commemorating the coronation of King Charles III as King of Canada, the medal recognizes Canadians who have made a significant contribution to Canada or to a particular province, territory, region, or community, or have made an outstanding achievement abroad that brings credit to Canada.

Jeraj, one of Canada’s youngest recipients of the award, was recognized for his volunteer and community service work and his dedication to youth initiatives.

“I was very humbled and honored to receive this award because it highlights my involvement and commitment to youth in the community,” he says. “I really hope that it serves as an inspiration for other youth in the community, that you really can achieve anything, and you can make a difference.”

While in high school during the COVID-19 pandemic, Jeraj created the first virtual model UN conference in British Columbia. The conference included students from more than 10 countries and featured several distinguished elected officials and parliamentarians as keynote speakers.

View large image

During his third year of high school, Jeraj transformed the session into an in-person event that became the largest in-person day conference in British Columbia. The Premier of British Columbia served as the keynote speaker.

In his fourth year, Jeraj says he worked diligently to mentor the younger students so the event could continue, and it endures today.

Jeraj has been involved with the scouting community since he was 5 years old. During the pandemic, he organized a drive to deliver more than 1,500 masks to various food banks and shelters in his community and led several food drives for homeless people.

He also organized an effort to collect used cell phones and donate them to individuals in need in Africa to provide them with essential technology and to reduce e-waste.

Jeraj was also involved in the British Columbia Premier’s Youth Council. He worked with the Premier throughout high school, providing consultation and a young person’s perspective on policy issues and youth initiatives.

Jeraj says he is passionate about model UN because it provides an opportunity to meet like-minded people who want to discuss and solve some of the world’s most pressing issues.

“In today’s society, we need more and more people coming together to talk and to resolve, in peaceful ways, the problems that we have,” he says.

Volunteer work and giving back to the community are virtues that Jeraj says have been instilled in him by his great-grandparents and grandparents, who came to Canada as refugees.

“For me, [giving back] is important because I’ve been blessed with so many opportunities and I feel a responsibility to pay that forward,” he says. “I see service as an experience that benefits everyone involved: while you help others, you also learn tremendously and expand your own perspective.”

King Charles, says Jeraj, is a role model for many Canadians and people in the Commonwealth because of his leadership and pluralistic values.

“In today’s world, where there are lots of divisions, it’s really important for us to come together and work together for the betterment of our global society.” he says. “I’m someone who is very, very proud to be Canadian and I hope to make a positive impact in today’s world.”