Maggie Roest

Maggie is the daughter of Chris and Shannon Roest, and is sister to Lucas. She is in grade 11 at New Westminster Secondary. Maggie's favourite sport is soccer, and she has been playing since she was 5 years old. She was honoured to receive the "Most Inspiring Player" award from her coach last year. She has also played ball hockey and field hockey. Her other favourite activities include boating, sewing and helping her dad work on vintage cars. Maggie has volunteered with her mother's preschool and the Hyack Festival. After participating in May Day 2015 as the Register Bearer from Lord Kelvin Elementary, she helped to supervise May Queen suites when she was older. 

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Maggie hopes to attend university to pursue one of her many intellectual interests. She has also always wanted to visit Australia and New Zealand. "However I am not eager to see
the spiders!"

As a soccer player herself, Maggie is most inspired by Christine Sinclair, as she is a true Canadian icon that continues to make a vital contribution to our Canadian society as a whole, as she gives back to our communities outside of the sport. Sinclair has dedicated her time to raise awareness and raise funds for many different causes over the span of her career. For example, she was honoured by the Women Against Multiple Sclerosis

for her outstanding charity work. Christine Sinclair inspires Maggie to be a better person and she is proud to have her represent Canada.

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Maggie's most treasured keepsake is her grandfather's wedding band that she now keeps on his gold chain and wears as a necklace. "We were very close when he passed away and it means so much to be able to have such a meaningful piece of jewelry. It was a piece of him that I now get to wear close to my heart."

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Her proudest moment of her life so far was learning to ride a bike. "Growing up I was very stubborn and my grandpa, Bill Wilkes, had to bribe me to ride my bike without the training wheels." He did this by suggesting we ride to the nearest grocery store to get a gumball from the gum ball machine. "This proved to be quite successful."

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Other than Hyack Festival Week, Maggie's favorite thing to do in our Royal City has changed so much
over the years. When she was young it was swimming with her friends for hours at the Moody Park outdoor pool. Today, her favorite thing she's done in our Royal City is to have been able to grow up here, and meet so many amazing people. Over the years she has learned so much and had so
many valuable experiences in New Westminster and she is very thankful for those moments.

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Maggie wouldn’t trade places with anyone, even if presented the chance,  because she is grateful to have
lived her life the way it is. "I’m happy with the way I am and I don't feel a need to be anyone else, but me."

If she could give her 13-year-old self a piece of advice, Maggie would tell herself what her senior mentor
taught her: To not be in a hurry to figure everything out, and that it was okay to not know exactly what you wanted to do in the future. "Also I would tell myself to enjoy field trips while they last!"

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Maggie believes she would make a good Hyack Ambassador because she is a very social person and she genuinely enjoys being around people. She has also lived in New Westminster her whole life, as well as her mom and grandparents, through which she has been able to appreciate and understand the history and uniqueness of our community.