The

Devon Flynn
Contributor

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’m very grateful to say that I’ve been fairly successful in receiving scholarships and

bursaries during my five years at UNBC. The university, as well as the community of

Prince George, make available an abundance of scholarships and bursaries to be taken

advantage of by a wide range of students. Though these awards may not always be

prominent or in your face, I assure you they are out there, and they're up for grabs.

For those of you who don’t know, there is a difference between scholarships and

bursaries; scholarships are awarded based on scholarly merit - the better grades you

achieve; the more likely you are to be rewarded. Bursaries, on the other hand, are given

on the basis of financial need, sometimes
requiring applicants to meet certain
geographical or demographic criteria. It’s
becoming more common that both demand
you also have to be an exemplary volunteer
and be involved in the community.

I've had several friends come up to me and
ask, “Devon, how do I apply for bursaries?”
The first thing I tell them when applying,
which somehow still manages to surprise
them, is just that - apply! You miss 100%
of the shots you don’t take. That may seem

very cliché, but it’s also extremely accurate.

It’s also how I first began getting into
bursary writing.

When I was younger, my parents and
teacher encouraged me to enter a writing
contest. While it was very imaginative, I
didn’t feel what I had was an amazing piece
of writing and wasn’t confident it would
be chosen. They suggested that perhaps
the other entrants felt that way too. I
quickly realized that if everyone held the
same negative thought of rationalization
Thad and chose not to apply, then maybe
the winner would be the one person who
applied. Homer Simpson said it well:

“The two sweetest words in the English
language! De-fault!” It’s pretty freakin’
sweet when you're on the receiving end of
those default situations, but you have to
make that first step.

This is particularly true for university
students where you are a lot less likely to
have mommy and daddy kissing your ass
and filling out those award applications for
you. I’ve seen it before when I graduated
from secondary school: class dummy wins
a hefty bursary and he doesn’t even know
what for. It was because his dear mother
did all the paperwork for him. The worst
part was he let it sit and expire because he
was too busy partying and never even went
on to college or university.

while I strongly believe scholarships and
bursaries should be available to a range

of people and not just the academic elite,
Talso believe they should be rewarded to
those who deserve them and work their
asses off. So to those of you who are eager
to pursue educational goals, as well as

the financial means of achieving those
goals, bursaries and scholarships are a
great way to go! Just because you apply for

them doesn’t mean you automatically get
them, bingo-bango. No, the stark reality
is your application gets you the chance
to be awarded a bursary or scholarship,
something I’ve come to realize feels a

lot like a form of gambling. Allow me to
explain.

Just like gambling, applying for awards can
rely on a degree of luck. As I had mentioned
earlier, the fewer people who apply, the
greater the chance you have of winning,
regardless of academic or extracurricular
merit; it’s like a draw. However, most
scholarships and bursaries require a bit
more work and skill. I’ve found these tend
to fall into two tiers of applications: there’s
the basic application, and the extensive
application. The basic application is where
you are required to provide typical contact
information, what program you're in,

goals and aspirations - about as much
information as you might expect to see

on your average Facebook profile. You

may also be asked to write a small essay

on a chosen topic like your future career
goals or modern day issues, but these are
usually short, simple, and demand nowhere
near the work a class assignment might

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require. And finally, you may or may not
need reference letters which I find to be the
most time-consuming actually: contacting
possible references, providing them with
additional information that makes you

look good, and running around to grab the
letters from them.

Not the most demanding of requirements,
eh? A fairly simple process you could
squeeze in between classes and work.

But you're a gambler, and broke to boot.
A horrible combination, and perhaps
interrelated, but what do I look like, your
gambling counsellor? Tuition is up, and
student loans suck. So it’s time to up the
ante and win...err....apply for some big
money!

The next tier of bursary and scholarship
applications are biggies. You've likely seen
or heard of these before: The Terry Fox
Humanitarian award; the UNBC Scholars
award. These are worth several thousands
of dollars and more or less considered a free
ride because they cover so much of your
expenses. As I mentioned earlier, bursaries
and scholarships are like gambling, and
now it’s time to play some high-stakes