“I like that it is not a known award. You go about your life and if you keep doing things the right way, good things will happen to you. That is what happened here today.”
Stephen Carey -Principal Saint Oscar Romero Catholic Secondary School
Award recipients are expected to write a letter generally describing how the money was used and the impact of winning the award had on them.
Receiving this award has made me feel accomplished and recognize my work ethic. I am truly grateful in having this award because it gives me the opportunity to be able to cover a bit of necessities needed for college in the future.
First of all, I would like to thank the Community Support for Students program for your support to me and my family in this difficult financial situation. This award helped me with my education expenses for example; transportation expenses, school supplies and athletic fee for my school soccer team. At this time my family saved the money that they should give me for my school expenses because I have received an award that supports my school expenses. Most of the funds I spent on things that I need for my high school graduation such as fees for the gown. Besides that I was interested in joining a soccer team, I didn’t have the opportunity to play with a team because I did not have enough money to pay for joining the team but by this award I paid the money and now I am playing for the team.
Thank you so much for the opportunities that you created for me with the award you have given to me. To be honest, I had thought I would just have to wait until I started university for the money to be useful to me personally but it turned out that the money would help me towards the end for high school instead. I had been able to attend my prom and pay for graduation, I even bought a few essential things for myself. I can not thank you enough and I extend my gratitude towards the community that sponsors this award. My parents were overjoyed and so proud of my achievements and I hope that more kids in the future will be able to have the opportunity that you have given. I am currently preparing to graduate soon and I am glad I did not miss out on certain experiences due to lack of finances. Thank you once again for your generosity.
I’m very thankful for the compass award. I was able to get a new computer with the money I was given. Due to the culminating assignments that piled up at the end of the year a computer helped me keep on track and allowed me to more proficiently complete my work. The computer I purchased has helped me to successfully finish high school. It will also be of great help to me in university. I’ll use it to write essays and take notes. Hopefully it will be one of the many reasons I succeed in university. The rest of what I was given has been put away in a high interest bank account. I am planning on using it for either my food plan or to buy whatever books I will need for school next year. I decided to save it because that way I’ll receive more in interest.
I am honored to have received this award. It has helped me a great deal in my successful high school career. I’m sure it will continue to impact me. I’d like to say thanks to the donors, and to everyone who helped ensure I had this great opportunity.
Thank you, I am grateful and honored to have been selected as a recipient of this award. This award helped me and my family by being able to pay for my university applications and transportation when needed.
I am very thankful to have received this award to help me support my family with financial fees and to be able to apply to as many universities as possible. Before this award I was not able to pay for a new laptop for my post-secondary education but receiving this award helped me to pay some money to get a new laptop. Winning the compass award has taught me that hard work will make you feel proud someday.
Being nominated as the Compass Award recipient really has made me look at things from adifferent perspective. Selected 1 of 2 students out of the whole grade has made me realize how blessed I am to have been given the opportunity at hand and have been chosen by teachers who believed me most deserving of this award. This award has allowed me to invest in my education by purchasing a laptop that would grant me the ability to complete assignments given, complete I.S.U’s, save documents on my chosen university, watch impactful and important videos, and even watch movies when I have free time to do the following. Therefore, this scholarship has impacted my life in a positive and joyous way by its ability to allow me to splurge on beneficial items that are investful to my education and that benefit me.
First off I would like to thank you for the opportunity to receive an award of this caliber. I also what to thank my teachers and principles for making this possible. What the majority of the money went to were extra expenses. For example, bus fare and lunches. When I didn’t have the chance to eat or food was low at home I would buy something from either Tim Hortons or subway to start the day. I also used the money to help pay for my sports team. I played on my school’s basketball team this year so the money came pretty handy when paying for sports merchandise and transportation for games. This has been great for me because it allows me to just focus on the games and winning other than stressing about sports expenses and where the money is coming from.
I also used a portion of the money on family. For example, If my family were hungry or wanted something for dinner I have never had a problem picking it up before. My siblings are fans of Korean cheese hotdogs so once in a while I would get them from a restaurant close to my school. A very positive impact the award money has given me was the chance to achieve and have access to bigger sums of money. This has given me the motivation to get a job and want to continue to grow financially.
Thank you again for this opportunity this program has impacted my life and my family in a big way.
Dear Compass Award Team and the Community Support for Students Program,
The Compass Award has immensely impacted both my academic and personal life in ways that I am truly grateful for. While being a senior in high school and coming from an immigrant family who struggled with financial, and health issues, money was something that constantly lingered in my mind. My family had always prioritized education over money, and insisted that I don’t work part time jobs so I could put all my time and effort into school. I never wanted to burden my family with having to pay for school as well as my daily needs. I wanted to be independent and afford things myself so I could put less stress on my parents paying for everything, except, I couldn’t exactly do all that if I’m stuck putting all my attention into grades. The act of living can be very expensive. Simple things such as food, clothing, transportation, or school supplies all add up in the end. The Compass Award helped me pay for many of these things as well as save for the future. They also helped me pay partially for a math tutor and buy my G1 driver’s license. I felt like I could breathe a little bit after the Compass Award, and it definitely took some weight off my parent’s shoulders.
Before I had gotten the Compass Award, my mental health had been detorrioting due to my personal life and the suffocating amount of course work from school. I was carrying a lot on my shoulders and often had feelings of hopelessness and giving up on school. However, during this time period, I had gotten news that I had won the Compass Award. In that moment, I felt that all of the endless all nighters I spent, all the social interactions I missed out on for school, all the “I can’t, I have to study”, all the coffee, Red Bull, sleep deprivation, eye bags, blood, sweat and physical tears dedicated towards school was finally being acknowledged by something more than just a percentage grade. The Compass Award could not have been awarded to me at a better time because I took this award as the light at the end of this very dark tunnel I was lost in. Through all of the stress and anxiety that I was enduring in my personal life, the Compass Award reminded me that I had come so far and couldn’t give up now. It has pushed me to break past my limits and to this day, it remains a symbol of my great potential.
From my family and I, thank you to the Compass Award Team and the Community Support for Students Program. As I advance in my career, I will never forget your kindness.
I am honoured to have received the Compass Award. This award was not only great financial aid but taught me more about myself than I ever knew.
From this award, I learned that hard work never goes unrecognized. Throughout the last four years of high school, I’ve been tremendously dedicated to my education and put in copious amounts of effort in achieving my goals and prepping myself for post-secondary. There were times when I was stressed and doubted myself. I didn’t recognize that I was on the right path and had accomplished many things already. So you could imagine how ecstatic I was when I received the Compass Award! It brought me a great sense of reassurance and eased my stress.
My award has been of great help when starting my post-secondary journey. So far, I have used it to apply to my universities. This award has been of great financial aid in day-to-day life as well. It’s helped pay for necessities like my presto and hygienic products when my paycheques from my part-time job weren’t enough. The leftover money is a base point to start my savings. I’m hoping to increase it over the summer by working. The money will then be used towards university expenses.
Overall, I would like to thank the Compass Award team who made this possible. Without you, I would’ve had a much tougher time this year. Thank you for assisting other students and me in making our goals possible. It means a lot!!
Being awarded the Compass Award helped me throughout my last year of high school. This award financially aided me through my day-to-day life. I used the money to buy things I needed both for school and myself. This helped my parents save money or use it for something that we needed such as groceries etc. This award helped me the most with buying my vitamins, everyday needs, and things I needed for my graduation photo. I also used the money to buy the people I love a present to thank them for always supporting me. The rest of the money will be used for anything I need during the summer or for graduation. I am so thankful that I received this award. It really helped me through my last year of high school.
Prior to this award I have no phone and most of my schoolmates can attest to that, and this Compass award was dedicated to this phone (iPhone 12) as advised by my father. My father promised to help me pay off the outstanding balance whenever the award payments stop.
This award has enhanced my network connectivity with my friends and schoolmates which has enabled me to text, call and send quick emails of my schoolwork on the go and schoolwork questions and get immediate responses towards me completing clarifications necessary for my school program.
Currently, I have accepted my admission offer from the University of Ottawa to study Civil Engineering and I have a brand-new phone (i Phone12), to help me to navigate my way through my schooling and my future studies with my profession.
Before this Award, I have no Bank Account because the bank had explained to my father that I need to be a joint account holder with my father, but my father wanted my personal financial management but with this award and being that I clocked 17 years it became an opportunity for me to have an Account solely operated by my me alone and learn about prudent financial planning and honest use of my Funds.
With this account facilitated by this award, I have now used the same Account for my University education.
I really appreciated this Compass Award and I say a big thank you.
Thank you, I am honored to have been selected as a recipient of this award. This financial support has been very helpful to my family and I. With this award I have been able to pay for my post-secondary applications. This award has also helped in supporting my family by paying for food and transportation when we really needed it.
I am truly grateful to have received this award because it meant that I can assist my family with financial needs and that I could pay for my post-secondary fees. This award also meant that I had support for my final year of high school with less stress and that the hard work that I put in over the years meant something.
I was completely surprised when I heard the news that I will be receiving The Compass Award, and I am immensely grateful for The Compass Award Team as well as my school which decided I was the best suited candidate to win this award. I have put the money towards purchasing a new laptop which I plan on using throughout university.
The money has tremendously helped as without it I wouldn’t be able to afford a quality laptop that is capable of handling the amount of work I will be putting in. For that reason I am grateful for receiving this award as the funds provided will be part of the reason I make it through and graduate university.
I am incredibly grateful to have won the Compass Award. It has not only impacted my life financially but has also impacted my outlook on everyday life.
Winning the Compass Award has taught me that the type of person I am and the things I do when I do not think anyone cares or is paying attention do not go unnoticed. Being recognized like this has made me strive to be a better person every day. I now make a greater effort to always be generous and understanding around others, no matter the circumstance.
The award money I received has helped and continues to help funding multiple aspects of my teenage life. It has also taken a bit of stress off my family financially, which is quite relieving to me. So far, I have used some of the money to pay for driving school and university applications, and it came in handy because these are not usual expenses any other year. I will use the remainder of the money in the near future as spending money as I am playing travel baseball this summer away from home.
I would like to thank everyone on the Compass Award Team for creating this award, as it has made a difference in multiple aspects of my life this year. It brings great joy to me to be recognized for what the award stands for!
