For Kirsten Neville, the thought of moving four hours from her hometown to attend university sounded costly and a bit intimidating. But, she’s proved to herself that hard work and persistence pays off.

Neville, a Grade 12 student at Esterhazy High School, was awarded a $3,000 SaskTel scholarship in May.

“I'm just really grateful that SaskTel recognized my potential, and that they are willing to do things for students who might need the financial help,” said Neville.

Each year, SaskTel awards seven scholarships of $3,000 to students attending post-secondary institutions in Saskatchewan. Recipients are enrolled in a field specifically related to information and communications technology.

After graduation at the end of June Neville will be moving to Saskatoon, where she’s enrolled in the faculty of Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan, majoring in Chemical Engineering.

When it came down to the scholarship selection process, it was Kirsten’s academic achievement and community involvement that stood out to SaskTel, according to Lyndsey Pankratz, Project Manager in Human Resources.

Neville’s last year of high school was busy. But she managed to juggle her school schedule with volunteering at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada, and recently started working part-time as a lifeguard and lesson instructor at the Esterhazy pool. Additionally, she got an early start on her post-secondary career by enrolling in, and completing, a few university classes.

“SaskTel believes in the value of supporting the youth of our province and we continually work towards developing stronger relationships with students attending post-secondary institutions, especially those institutions which offer programs related to SaskTel lines of business,” said Pankratz.

“Our commitment to youth not only provides valuable opportunities for students, but it also allows us to recruit high potential employees for the future,” she added.

A surprise passion for technology

When Neville first signed up for computer science class two years ago, she didn’t realize how much she would enjoy it.

It wasn’t until halfway through the semester that she found herself giving a friendly and informal technology lesson to members of her family, around the dinner table.

“I was like wow this is something I could potentially see myself doing,” she said.

Since then, Neville’s love for science and engineering continued to grow.

“I think that science can open a lot of doors, because science really is the future,” she said. “So, by taking information and technology classes, people could have the chance to expose themselves to different types of learning, and that can lead to so many wonderful opportunities.”

2018/19 SaskTel Scholarship Recipients:

Ryssa Mae Alarcon
Brandon Holtzman
Alison Landstad
Nia McKay
Jesse McLeod
Kirsten Neville
Samia Sami
Cassidy Venne

Students interested in pursuing their own post-secondary dreams are encouraged to apply for a SaskTel Scholarship today! Learn more about how to qualify and apply here. The deadline for 2019/20 applications is March 31, 2019.