2021-2022 Letters

Award Recipients' Letters

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.