2020 SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS

All of us at BBBST are so proud of the Littles who were scholarship recipients this year. Through their hard work, dedication, and commitment to themselves they have made us all so proud.

GRADE 12 LEADERS OF TOMORROW SCHOLARSHIP

DINURI PUNCHIHEWA

Hi, my name is Dinuri Punchihewa and I will be going to McMaster University in September for Life Sciences with big hopes to pursue a major in Biochemistry-Biomedical Research Specialization and a minor in Business. I am honoured to be this years recipient of the Leaders of Tomorrow Scholarship, therefore I will represent the JAMS Charitable Foundation and BBTS Org. to the best of my abilities. Being awarded this scholarship means that I will be able to pursue my degree with a reduced financial strain on my mom who has brought me this far and will continue to do so I’m the next 5 years. Finally, this scholarship has given me more hope in myself and confidence that I will be able to accomplish this dream and being awarded this scholarship means that both these wonderful organization believe and faith in me that I am more than capable with the skills I occupy hence why I was found worthy of this scholarship. Overall, I would like to thank JAMS and BBTS for this opportunity. On a last note, despite where the future takes me, JAMS and BBTS would have to take some credit for my accomplishments that have yet to come because without them I wouldn’t  be the person I was and will be in the future. 

ASHA SUBRAMANIAM

Receiving this scholarship is an honour. It will open doors for me, allowing me to help others in the future through my own education and work. I am interested in life sciences and hope to pursue research in biomedical sciences. This scholarship for me is just the beginning. 

MOSAB ANWARY

ANEES AL-SAGGAF 

GRADE 12 TED ROGERS SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS

HIBA ALHUTTAM

My name is Hiba Alhuttam and I am one of the finalists for the Ted Rogers Scholarship. Through Big Brothers and Big Sisters, I have attended workshops, programs and more to help educate me about campus life. Thankfully, we met every week at my dream university, University of Toronto, Scarborough. I heard about Pumped up for Post Secondary through a member from your team who came to my psychology class; I was quickly captivated by the scholarship that was offered and the link between UTSC encouraged me to join even more. My father has been the local campus hot dog for more than 12 years and is one of the greatest reasons why I chose this school; and once I heard about this opportunity it was as if everything fell into place. This scholarship means a lot to me because it gave me the opportunity to get involved with activities and meet new people. It not only allowed me to step out of my comfort zone but also fulfilled by fathers dream in seeing his little girl attend the university he has devoted his sweat and tears towards. I am so happy and blessed to have won this scholarship due to the tough situation society is going through as a whole. Although 2020 is not how we imagined, I am still grateful for having my family. My father is the only source of income, and you can guess that a hot dog stand isn’t the best of jobs. It is definitely challenging with almost no leisure time. He comes home every day between 8:00pm and 9:00pm, exhausted; but manages to put a smile on his face for us. I have always felt grief-stricken when I seen how hard he works to put food on our table, but this scholarship changed that. Ted Rogers has lifted a heavy weight from my dad’s shoulders by supporting first year students who are in need; and not only for one year, but for four consecutive years in university. For this, thank you for changing my life Ted Rogers. Thank you for seeing potential in me. Thank you for allowing me to peruse my dream of being a speech language pathologist; I will continue to impact other people’s lives as you impacted mine.

NICOLE HENDERSON

Hello, my name is Nicole and I am proud and honoured to be a Ted Rogers recipient. Thanks to this, I will have the possibility of going to Trent university for Forensic Anthropology. Ever since middle school I had a true passion for forensics, and crime scenes. It wasn’t until last year when I knew I wanted to be a forensic anthropologist, as that is what intrigues me the most. This scholarship is going to help me in my future endeavours in forensics, and I will forever be thankful. I would like to thank those who helped me to achieve the scholarship, as well as those working within the Ted Rogers Scholarship Foundation, as I will be able to achieve my dream in forensics.  

STEPHANIE CLAYTON

GRADE 9 ANDRA TAKACS SCHOLARSHIP

AVANT THOMPSON

I  registered Avant with big brothers & big sisters some years back. My reasoning at the time was to provide him with a mentor/ role model as his father has been in and out of his life.  

Avant is a young black teen, I wanted to ensure he had the right tools, mentors and opportunity to succeed and be a productive member of society.  

The end of last year Avant received one of the greatest gift by been matched with Matt. He is truly a great mentor and role model for Avant. With that been said I received an email regarding the Andra Takacs scholarship which I thought it would be a great opportunity to help Avant and I financial with post secondary education, given the fact I am a single mother.  

Avant has expressed interest in becoming a computer engineer, he is very good with computers and also so great in mathematics. 

We thank the Andra Takacs Scholarship for choosing Avant to be the 2020 recipient. 

-Nadine Alexander, Avant’s mother  

ASEYAH SAFI

First of all, I would like to thank my family, especially my mom, for all their love and support. Being my mom’s second youngest out of six children, I know that she is proud of me and I feel like I have proven to myself that I can accomplish great things in life. Secondly, I want to thank my teachers and principal for guiding my learning and growth as a person, Kelsie, who is my big sister, for being a great role model and influence in my life, and finally Big Brother Big Sister for giving me the opportunity to apply for the Andra Takacs scholarship. A huge thank you to Andra Takacs for her generosity in establishing this scholarship. To me, this scholarship means that my hard work has paid off. Moving forward in life and my educational journey, I will continue to work hard, and this scholarship will help me to do so.

Aseyah