Sarah Wheelan
Special to Ontario Construction News
Through the Threads of Life Scholarship, generously made possible by the BCRSP, we hope to assist and support students affected by workplace tragedy with their studies. This scholarship is so important to me, because it’s one of the support methods I could have really benefited from in those early years.
My younger brother sustained electrical burns on the job the summer between my second and third year of university. I left my summer job to be by his bedside 700km away for half of the summer, before returning home, without my family, to work the rest of the summer. When I returned to university that fall, I sobbed in the bursar’s office when my student loans didn’t come through as I’d expected.
My parents were at his bedside and I knew they didn’t have the money or the bandwidth to help me figure it out at that time. So while the administrator in the bursar’s office didn’t end up bringing me home to feed me – a comment she’d made because I’d dropped a significant amount of weight from the stress – she and I did eventually figure out a way to make things work and my bill was paid.
So, if you or someone you know is a post-secondary student who’s experienced a workplace tragedy, please ensure they know about this opportunity.
We don’t often talk openly about financial stresses in our lives, and I feel I can share this story now only because it was a few lifetimes ago. But $2,500 may really help a student affected by a workplace tragedy who needs a boost to finish their program.
The program is a partnership with the Board of Canadian Registered Safety Professionals which funds the Threads of Life Scholarship.
Awarded annually, four $2,500 national scholarships are available to Threads of Life family members who are students enrolled, either full-time or part-time, in a college or university program.
Applications must include an account of community involvement, a letter of confirmation or acceptance into a college or university program, and a copy of your most recent university/college transcript, or high school transcript if you have not yet completed one year of university/college program.
Students must also submit a written response to the question: “How the BCRSP/Threads of Life Scholarship will impact you and why you should be awarded the scholarship”.
For more information, click here.
Sarah Wheelan is a Communications Coordinator at Threads of Life.