When Dominic Ely heads to Queen's University this fall to study Commerce, he will arrive having already done something most business students only read about in case studies: he built a real company.
In Grade 10, sitting in the back of a St. Michaels University School English class, Dominic and classmates Ethan Curtis ‘26 and Jaeden Berger-North '25 started sketching out an idea. That idea became AMC Academy, an online education platform that prepares students across North America for competitive mathematics examinations including the AMC, AIME, and USAMO. What began as a conversation grew into something with genuine reach: coaches hired from MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, and Cambridge; local news coverage, and a featured interview with digital literacy educator the White Hatter, who highlighted AMC Academy as a real-world example of youth using technology to build, learn and innovate.
"Getting to start a real company in high school was a really impactful experience,” said Ely. “SMUS gave me the environment to actually try something like that and take it seriously, and a lot of that came from being around classmates who were doing equally ambitious things. That energy was contagious in the best way."
A Place to Grow in Every Direction
Part of what shaped AMC Academy was simply being surrounded by people reaching for something. It is one of the things SMUS makes possible: the room to pursue several interests seriously, with the support of a community that encourages students to begin before they feel ready.
For Dominic, that showed up across every corner of school life. He led five student clubs and programs over four years, including serving as Head of the Business Leadership Program, the largest student group at SMUS, organizing a school-wide investment competition that went on to win the National Rundle Investment Competition, and running a Politics Club that brought local politicians including MP Will Greaves in to speak to his peers. In Grade 10 he helped allocate a $3,000 community grant as Co-Head of the Vital Youth Committee in partnership with the Victoria Foundation.
But his reach extended well beyond business and leadership. Dominic served as Principal Cellist in multiple SMUS ensembles and with the Greater Victoria Youth Orchestra, played soccer for four years, and pursued languages with the same seriousness, earning a CEFR B1 certification in German through a fully funded Goethe-Institut exchange in Cologne, one of only four Canadian students selected that year.
"A lot of the most meaningful moments came from the people around me. Teachers, coaches, and classmates who pushed me and supported me made a real difference. SMUS draws genuinely exciting people, students who are starting things, competing at high levels, coming from all over the world, and being around that every day raised the bar for what felt possible."
What Comes Next
Queen's recognized what SMUS helped build. Dominic was awarded the Chancellor's Scholarship, one of the university's most prestigious entrance awards, given to a small number of students nationally each year and recognizing academic achievement alongside leadership and community involvement.
Heading into his first year at Queen's, Dominic said he feels ready, with some nerves mixed in. This summer he plans to keep growing AMC Academy before leaving for Kingston in the fall, carrying with him a lesson that turned out to apply well beyond a company sketched out in a Grade 10 English class.
"The biggest lesson is probably that you don't need perfect conditions to start something. Some of the best things that happened came from just deciding to begin and staying committed."
