Fort Macleod grad earns prestigious and special scholarship to make her childhood dream come true
Despite the fact the pandemic threw major hurdles for those graduating high school, it was a time to celebrate as graduation took place last month.
One person who was particularly happy was Fort Macleod’s Courtney Ross.
The 18 year-old F.P. Walshe grad will be going to Lethbridge College for two years to get a diploma for renewable resource management. Her grades are good for the conditional acceptance so in the fall, she will be embarking on her journey to what she hopes will lead to a new career.
Like many students, financial considerations are always difficult, but through a special scholarship program, the hard working Ross will gets some assistance through the Ted Rogers Scholarship program.
Ross will receive $2,500 per year for up to four years. She received the news recently in a zoom call where those participants had no initial idea they all had won. She received an email that she was a finalist but that she had to go to a webinar meeting. She assumed there would be a discussion, some speeches and then there would be an announcement of who the winners were. She was one of 26 in Western Canada to earn the funding.
“I was so shocked to win,” she says happily. “There were all these people there and I am thinking ‘oh my gosh, there is no way I won.’ They announced that this was a trick and none of us were finalists and that all of us won. I was really surprised and happy. I couldn’t really believe it…It sounds cliché but it is making my dreams possible.” After F.P. Walshe held their “drive-in grad” June 12 where loved ones could drive into the school yard where a stage was constructed and people could watch the grads receive their diplomas.
“There’s more opportunities for summer jobs and even after I graduate with a diploma I still can go for Alberta Parks or Alberta Fish and Wildlife like a park ranger, and I can what specifically
I am interested in, especially with biology and conservation,” explains Ross in a phone interview. “Then, I plan on going to university and getting a Bachelor’s in Wildlife biology or zoology and then my college courses can transfer to that so I would only have to take three years.
“Once I realized that there’s so many opportunities and scholarships, I was looking into it. There were so many things I realized that actually it’s going to be a possibility for me to be able to go. I can actually do what I’ve always be interested in.”
The scholarships was set up because in the Rogers company’s view “reports show youth from low-income households, equity-seeking groups, or remote communities are less likely to pursue postsecondary studies due to barriers like affordability.” Ross describes her home situation as kinship care where it is like foster care except she is living with her cousins and Godparents.
Ross will be the first in her immediate family who has attended post secondary education.
For Ross, to be able to go to school to study an area which she absolutely loves is special.
Her love of anything ecology-related started as an early age and will not cone as any sort of surprise to anyone who knows her.
“I’ve always been into biology, especially plants and animals,” explains Ross.
She adds with a laugh, “I have always been really interested in animals. I remember my family, especially my sisters would make fun of me and nobody would want to watch anything with me because I would always want to watch nature documentaries and everyone would complain how boring it was.”
She says she was influenced by a retiring Grade 9 teacher Dan Orr.
They did a lot of interesting experiments dissected fronts, fetal pigs and took the students on a week long trip sailing on the Gulf Islands where they studied marine biology, and went on numerous hikes looking fro and examining a variety of plants and animals.
Ross will be working through the summer and when the opportunities arise, hanging out with her friends and making a lot of memories before everyone takes off on their own post secondary adventures.
Since launching Ted Rogers Scholarships in 2017, Rogers has invested more than $700,000 in scholarships to support nearly 300 Prairie students attending post-secondary studies, with the program now celebrating its first cohort of university and college graduates.
Nearly three-quarters of recipients nationally self-identify as members of equity-seeking groups including Black, Indigenous, People of Colour, LGBTQ2S+, and young women.
“These scholars reflect a vibrant and diverse generation which will propel Canada forward with ideas and innovation, and power our growth and economy,” reads the Rogers statement.