Erik Van Beek: essay scholarship winner.

Alexander the Great once said, "Upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all." No one takes this belief more seriously than 17-year-old Erik Van Beek. The Sudbury high school student believes that everyone, including those in business, should heed the advice of great people when they are making decisions.

In other words, Van Beek believes business leaders should take a page from the Dalai Lama for business management advice rather than from fellow CEOs or through prestigious MBA programs.

"The corporate world and the little guy need to connect," says Van Beek.

This succinct advice landed Van Beek the 2004 Union Gas essay scholarship.

Van Beek says he received the idea for the paper after watching a news program involving an interview with the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan monk who has spent his entire life defending the right of national self-determination for Tibet from Chinese occupation, and Reverend Desmond Tutu. Tutu is the black Anglican clergyman known for his long battle against the system of racial apartheid, or separation, in South Africa. Van Beek says both of the figures stressed the role of the individual in bringing change to the world.

According to Van Beek, both leaders believed strongly in the role volunteering and sacrifice to the community played in their particular struggles.

The business world can learn something from these famous people, he says. By helping community organizations, business leaders can change the negative perception some people have of business as being "cut-throat" and out of touch with the community.

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"(Business people) should come across as helping the community, not as money grubbers," he says.

In his essay, entitled Anyone Can Make a Difference, he stressed how philosophy applies to business.

Van Beek says he approached the paper in terms of philosophy first, then business second. He wanted to show how philosophy could be applied to real-life ventures like business. Having studied some philosophy himself, Van Beek has arrived at some of his own ideas.

"The individual is by far the most important entity," he says.

"Author George Orwell argues that the community is more important, but I disagree with him."

For Van Beek, individuals pursuing selfless endeavours are the fingers in the dike keeping the community from imploding.

"If you don't have people volunteering, your community often falls apart," he says.

"It's strong individuals with morals that benefit the community."

Not surprisingly, the high school graduate intends to pursue a joint bachelors degree in history and philosophy at Laurentian University.

Van Beek himself is no stranger to volunteerism. The recent graduate of Lockerby Composite School sat on his high school student council and worked on a news-magazine published through his high school called the Viking Voice. He also took home the Sudbury Multicultural and Folk Arts Association Award for 2004 and volunteers with the Canadian Cancer Society. He also represented the defence team at a regional mock legal competition organized through Sudbury high schools. Van Beek was able to connect with a local lawyer and secure a summer job with the firm.

Van Beek also credits his mother for instilling in him a sense of duty to the community.

"She volunteers for everything," laughs Van Beek. He says he is proud of her and he looks to her as a role model.

In his essay, Van Beek mentions that he would like to take over his father's business, which is contracted as the distributor of the Globe and Mail in the Sudbury area.

He says he has since re-evaluated his plans, and adds that he would like to eventually pursue a law degree after he finishes his studies at Laurentian. His interests lie in corporate and commercial law.

By Joseph Quesnel

Northern Ontario Business