USask President’s Medal winner took it ‘one class at a time’

The top undergraduate student receiving a degree from the University of Saskatchewan (USask) this fall says his success is less about smarts than it is about the process.

“School is not necessarily easy for me. I wouldn’t describe it as that at all. I would (say) there’s a clear path forward most of the time if you want to do good, and that’s a skill that I’ve learned as a student over the years,” said Aiden Gerwing, who graduates at USask Fall Convocation today with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in business economics.

With a 93.63 per cent cumulative weighted average, Gerwing is receiving the President’s Medal—the award for the graduating student with the highest grades in any USask undergraduate program—along with the Dean’s Medal and the University Medal in the Social Sciences from the College of Arts and Science.

Earlier in his studies, Gerwing dealt with the same doubts and worries most students face—that he would struggle or fail. He said he took a “one class at a time, one day at a time, one goal at a time attitude” and devised strategies for each step based on his instructor’s expectations, his strengths as a student and his own learning goals.

In the end, he knew the only way to quiet his doubts was to prove he could succeed.

“You just keep working hard, you keep doing good, and keep fighting this notion that you’re not good enough or you’re not going to succeed or you’re going to fall behind. And then it just gets to the point where it’s like, ‘Okay, I’ve been doing this for two or three years and I’ve been consistently succeeding. It’s not a coincidence anymore,’” Gerwing said.

As someone with ADHD, Gerwing faced added challenges in university, but he said his time at USask has boosted his confidence and his expectations for himself. He hopes other USask students registered with Access and Equity Services are encouraged by his story.

“If a few people are like, ‘Okay, this guy can do it. I could too,’ that would be a really rewarding thing for me.”

At 30, Gerwing has more experience than many of his peers. He enrolled at USask after four years in the workforce and a Civil Engineering Technology Diploma from Saskatchewan Polytechnic. He thought about further studies in engineering but ultimately decided to pursue his new interest in business and finance.

Gerwing felt the business economics program in the College of Arts and Science—which requires a combination of Edwards School of Business and College of Arts and Science courses—would give him the best exposure to the various disciplines he wanted to learn about. During his studies, he got real-world work experience at an investment company through the Economics Internship Program.

Gerwing was grateful for the support of many USask economics faculty members—especially Dr. Joel Bruneau (PhD), Hongbin Zhang and the late Prof. Alfons Boving, who passed away in 2023.

“(Prof. Boving) was very encouraging. I really loved the way that he taught—the energy and the enthusiasm and the passion he brought to teaching, and the care that he brought to his students,” Gerwing said.

Most of Gerwing’s personal interests involve athletics, and while he had to set aside some hobbies during his studies, he never quit his greatest passion: weightlifting.

Gerwing brings the same approach to weightlifting that he brought to university.

“I like going to the gym because it’s a good habit. It’s a process of self-betterment. And it’s just a day-by-day thing. You’re not climbing a mountain in a day,” he said.

Gerwing is now enrolled in the Master of Arts program in the USask Department of Economics and hopes to work in finance. He knows he has a lot to learn in graduate school and again in the working world, but he’s certain he will be able to reinvent himself. He’s already done it once.

“(University) is a process of growing or changing. My confidence has changed. My approach to school and life has changed,” he said.

Gerwing’s advice to other students is to keep focused on that process.

“You just need to ask yourself: what do I want in life? And then you just say: what can I do to get there? I know it sounds like an oversimplification, but it’s not. What you put in is what you get out.”