Environmental Governance Student Recipient of Three Scholarship Awards

Posted on Wednesday, November 14th, 2018

Emily De Sousa, a fourth-year Environmental Governance student was the recipient of three scholarship awards at last week’s College of Social and Applied Human Sciences award ceremony.

De Sousa is the first person in her family to attend University. During her high-school years, she didn’t think that attending University would be a possibility due to family financial reasons, but her parents’ determination to see her succeed and their considerable sacrifices made it happen. 

In her acceptance speech, De Sousa spoke about the effects of donor scholarships on her education and how they have allowed her to make the most of educational opportunities.

Below is a short blog-post that De Sousa wrote describing the moment she found out she had been selected as a recipient of the awards:

I clearly remember exactly where I was that mid-July moment when I received notification that I was being awarded three different scholarships from generous University of Guelph donors. I was sitting in my kitchen pouring over bills and budgets, trying to figure out how I was going to not only pay my fall semester tuition but also afford the research course opportunity that I was being offered a spot in for that summer.

I had applied and been accepted into the Geography Field Research Course for the Fall 2018 semester, an opportunity that would allow me to extend my learning beyond the walls of a classroom – but with a price tag. I was restless at this point in my university career, aching to apply my traditional classroom knowledge and skills to real-world scenarios. The field course was the perfect opportunity to craft my own project centred around my interests and utilize my Environmental Governance background to solve an existing real-world problem. But the cost of the field course paired with the existing cost of my semester tuition, books, and parking passes…was adding up very fast and had been weighing on me all summer.

That day in my kitchen, while crunching numbers and trying not to pull my hair out, several emails came in from The College of Social and Applied Human Sciences.

“It is with great pleasure that I write to inform you of your selection as a winner of the CSAHS SA STUDENT LEADER SCHOLARSHIP.”

“It is with great pleasure that I write to inform you of your selection as a winner of the MACDONALD STEWART SCHOLARSHIP IN MEMORY OF WALTER AND MAY STEWART.”

“It is with great pleasure that I write to inform you of your selection as a winner of the GRANT FOR UNDERGRADUATE EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING.”

I imagine that this is exactly what winning the lottery feels like. I jumped up from my kitchen table so quickly I sent coffee spilling all over my spreadsheets that no longer mattered.

I screamed and danced around my kitchen, feeling the weight of an entire summer’s worth of stress being lifted off of my shoulders. The best part was telling my parents about the awards and seeing their faces flush with relief, joy, and pride.

Not only were these generous scholarships enough to cover my entire semester’s tuition, but they would also help me afford my field course tuition and flights to Nova Scotia.

The opportunity to participate in this course was a privilege that I do not take lightly. It has been the highlight of my academic career here at Guelph.

I am forever grateful for the support that The College of Social and Applied Human Sciences and the University of Guelph community has provided me in pursuing my passions.   

To all the donors who extended their generosity to me, thank you for believing in me.

The College of Social and Applied Human Sciences offers students over $350,000 in scholarships and awards to assist in their education. Many of these awards are provided through generous donations from donors who understand the importance of removing financial barriers from educational success.

The College, faculty, staff, and students thank all of the donors who help to make these awards possible.

 

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