I was a Merit Bursary Award recipient!

A couple months back I applied for the Merit Bursary Award.  It's an exclusive award that recognizes student across the GTA that have faced hardships but have continued to be active contributors and leaders within their communities and school.  I thought I'd give it a shot because I had already applied to other scholarships and had two teachers who had already written me several reference letters (thank you Ms. Morrison an nd Ms. Kimmel!), and a lot of the questions the application asked for I had already written down in some form or another.

Last week on Monday, I received an email from the Merit Award congratulating me on being selected as a recipient.  This has been the biggest monetary award that I applied to and won thus far, and I was so surprised.

This Tuesday (June 5th) was the award ceremony which was held downtown and generously hosted by FASKEN.  My incentive for going was that the email stated there would be 'light refreshments'.  The refreshments came through!

At the ceremony, they said that 180 students had been selected out of 600 plus applicants.  On top of that, I was 1 out of 14 applicants who received the $2000 award, which most people are given the $750 or $500 award.  Hearing that along with all the incredibly successful guest speakers was invigorating and inspiring.

The above picture is everybody from my school who won an award.  Congrats girls!

I'm thinking of making a separate post about all the scholarships and bursaries I received.  It won't be anything like how I got a free ride with $100k in scholarships but I do want to show the reality of someone who does apply and does receive some free money for postsecondary.

I had a fun time talking to these wonderful people.

Yes, I was the only one with turquoise hair there.  It definitely made an impression.

Of course, I took this opportunity to take outfit photos.  I was downtown on a Tuesday evening, if I didn't it would have been a crime.  Therefore... crime avoided.

I'm always sceptical when my mom tries to take photos of me, but I actually quite like these.  A little VSCO editing here and there and whabam.

What I am Wearing:

Blazer: Thrifted Jones New York

Dress: Thrifted H&M

Shoes: Internet Girl via Depop

Purse: Thirfted Vintage

Hair: Manic Panic in Voodoo Blue