“Employers should realize that scholarship programs, similar to the one at TD, are an awesome way to give back to the community and build a pool of great potential employees. A true win-win situation.”

—Adam Stacey, Student, University of New Brunswick

Being involved in my community has always been an important aspect of my life. However, it wasn’t until my final year of high school that I realized just how beneficial my involvement would be.

In my grade 12 year at Northumberland Regional High School, I began applying for post-secondary scholarships. I described my extracurricular and volunteer activities in my applications and, many applications and hours of hard work later, I found success.

I graduated with total scholarship offers of more than $100,000. I was extremely proud to call myself a TD Scholar, a National Millennium Laureate, and a recipient of Nova Scotia’s Premier’s Power of Positive Change award.

These awards brought two awesome benefits: 1) I would leave university debt-free and, 2) I had guaranteed summer employment for the next four years. (Along with the scholarship money, TD Scholars are offered full-time summer employment in between school years.)

Although I deeply appreciated the scholarship money, it was the offer of employment that proved most valuable.

My experiences thus far with TD’s summer employment program have been exceptional. In my first summer, I had the opportunity to work at any TD Canada Trust branch in the country. Working as a teller, I learned the business from the ground up.

Second, third and forth summers are more flexible and can include working at TD’s head office in Toronto, at one of TD’s regional offices or at a non-profit organization.

After the four years, many of the scholars decide to stay on at TD, which speaks volumes about the company, the scholarship and the summer program.

Where I am now

I just finished my second year at the University of New Brunswick on the TD Canada Trust Scholarship.

Next year I am transferring to Acadia University to finish my Honours in Psychology. I work as a teller for TD during my summers and I’m thinking about law school for the future.

My recommendations for employers, schools and career-centres

Providing scholarship money to high school graduates for their post-secondary education is something companies have been doing for a long time. It’s a nice way to give back to the community and amp up a corporate image.

Although any funding is appreciated by students, organizations are missing out if they aren’t using their scholarship program as a means of recruitment.

Employers should realize that scholarship programs, similar to the one at TD, are an awesome way to give back to the community and build a pool of great potential employees. A true win-win situation.

My recommendation for students

If you are in school (high school, undergraduate or graduate!), you would be crazy not to apply for scholarships. There is so much untapped money out there. Here are three simple steps:

1. Do your homework. Research scholarships to find ones that match your skills and accomplishments. Check out StudentAwards.com and ScholarshipsCanada.ca, where you can build profiles and have scholarships matched to you (for free!).

2. Apply everywhere. Some scholarships are left unanswered in a given year because no one applied. Be sure to apply to anything and everything that you think you could win.

3. Apply some more! Treat scholarship hunting like a part-time job. Yes, the applications take a lot of time and effort, but the payout is worth it.

This #StudentVoice belongs to:

Adam Stacey
Student
Psychology
University of New Brunswick

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