Walnut Grove's Vanessa Vilardi will have less to worry about during her post-secondary years, after earning the $20,000 President's Entrance Scholarship from Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

"...it will continuously motivate me to focus on my studies and strive for excellence," Vilardi said of the scholarship.

She's studying criminology at Kwantlen, as she works to become a lawyer.

Another Walnut Grove Secondary grad, Brooke Chorney, earned the Merit Entrance Scholarship (worth $5,000), as didLangley Secondary's Catherine Thompson and Dylan Murphy, of D.W. Poppy Secondary.

The awards are given to the top Metro Vancouver students enrolling in Kwantlen programs to pursue full-time studies. A total of $210,000 was given out in 2010.