The winner
Huge congratulations to Kristine Houston, our 2024 Second-Half Scholarship winner! We hope you enjoy reading along as she shares her story in her entry below.
Thank you to all who entered!
Our scholarship essay prompt
Share your greatest financial achievement and how you made it happen?
Kristine’s response
I grew up without money. No money at all. Sharing my greatest financial achievement involves sharing a part of the story of my life. The result is my greatest financial achievement, but it is also just one of my greatest achievements as a person.
I grew up in a low-income household on a single income. My father worked odd jobs throughout my life, and we never had much. There were constant fights about finances and, eventually, the stress became too much for the family to bear. My father’s addiction challenges took over, and the family fell apart from there. He did try. We would go for walks, and he would promise me that one day he would take us to Disneyland. One day it would happen. He promised. That day never came, and things just got worse as we grew up. We weren’t able to participate in school trips or buy new clothes. I know he was embarrassed that he was unable to provide for us.
My greatest financial achievement occurred two years ago, when I was able to take my two children to Disneyland. The experience brought me to tears most days. It was the proudest I have ever been. The way that I achieved this was simple but determined.
I wanted to be able to provide for and be a role model for my children. I worked hard to graduate and moved out of our small town so there would be opportunities for growth and economy. I was the first person in my family to attend college. I applied to the shortest post-secondary career growth program I could so that I could quickly be capable of earning more than minimum wage. This would end up being the Certified Dental Assistant program. I graduated and at 19 years old was making $18 per hour, which was a lot at that time. More than anyone in my family had ever made.
I started saving 20% of my paychecks in a high-interest savings account, and I opened my first RRSP and set up auto deposit for $25 per paycheck. This was all I could afford, but I was proud to be doing it, and it began to add up. This was on the advice of my co-worker, and I thank her always for this advice. From here, my savings really started to build up, and I was looking at advancing my education and was able to do so without getting another student loan. I was awarded my BSN from the University of Victoria, and within 5 years, we were at Disneyland. I was able to save for a few months and put no part of this trip on a credit card. It was my greatest personal and financial achievement.
I am now looking to the future and have been accepted to a Master’s Degree Program at the University of Ottawa. I hope to be considered for this scholarship in order to continue my studies and be able to provide for my children with further opportunities and experiences that I never had.
