Scholarship Helps Single Mom Achieve Her Goals

For Janine Olivier – a single mom of three – making the decision to go back to school to give herself and her family a better quality of life was nothing short of daunting.

As a mature student with the aspiration of becoming a registered nurse, she had to both upgrade her high school science courses and take on the financial burden of a bachelor degree to change her career.

“When I started thinking about going back to school, it was because I felt like I had hit a wall in my current job and couldn’t go any further,” says Olivier.

“I wanted to have a career directly helping the community and most importantly, I wanted to provide financial security for my family, but I was afraid of the financial strain it would put us through.”

Luckily, Janine didn’t have to do it alone.

After getting accepted into the Mount Royal University (MRU) Nursing Program it was recommended to her that she apply to MRU’s Awards Program. She completed the application process and was chosen to receive the TransCanada Aboriginal Education Scholarship.

Scholarship came at a great time

“The scholarship from TransCanada couldn’t have come at a better time,” recalls Olivier.

“It eased the stress of my day-to-day finances and allowed me to be able to focus on my studies and my children. It also gave me the confidence to fast-track my program and I am now scheduled to graduate in December 2015 instead of spring 2016.”

To Janine’s surprise, her success in University has had a major impact on her immediate family members.

Since beginning her bachelor degree at MRU, her brother and sister have both decided to upgrade courses and pursue a university education. She has also seen a new level of focus from her own children as they continue through the public school system.

“Over the past few years, my kids have seen their mom with her head in books every day and I think it has really shown them how important it is to get a good post-secondary education.”

“They see how hard it is to go to university as a single parent and they are aware of the great opportunities for financial support available to them.”

The TransCanada Aboriginal Education Scholarship is just one of many scholarships and bursaries offered by the company to students across North America. The company supports educational institutions and initiatives that enhance student learning, promote innovation and facilitate skills development because these investments not only benefit the communities where we live and work, but also provide a skilled workforce for our industry in the future.

“As we continue to improve upon our corporate Stakeholder Education and Training Strategy, which guides how we financially support education initiatives, we hope we can help more students like Janine achieve academic success and long-term prosperity,” says Cyril Elbers, manager, Community Investment and Socio-economic Programs at TransCanada.