The Terry Fox Humanitarian Award recognizes those who reflect the ideals of courage, humanitarianism, service and compassion. Lisa Braun sat down for a visit with Saskatchewan’s 2010 winner, Erin Bader, a 1st year student, from Saskatoon.Erin, how did you decide to attend Bethany College?
The question of “should I go to Bible College?” was in my mind, and I had thought of Bethany because of friends. I had applied for nursing already, but one evening checked out the Bethany website, decided that I wanted to go, and applied the next week. I have a number of friends who attended here including Joeline Magill (BA, 2009), Jaylin Braun (2009-2010), Katie Pauls (2009-2010) and Steph Neufeld (Diploma, 2008).
How did you first hear about the Terry Fox Humanitarian Award Program?
I was checking out scholarships through my high school’s student services website, found the Terry Fox award, and applied. The application covered three parts of an individual’s life: athletic involvement, community participation, and overcoming obstacles.
Why do you think your application stood out among all the applicants from across Canada?
My experience in high school could be described as a lot of everything, a wide variety of involvements. After the initial application, the process was narrowed down through an interview. I talked about my experiences in going to Nicaragua on my own, paid for myself, even when my family didn’t want me to go initially. I had been to the country before on Project Serve 2009 with Youth for Christ Saskatoon, and I wanted to go back. I needed to get out of my comfort zone completely, and do something that would be a clean break from high school, something different, something to challenge me. So I went back as an intern with Open Hearts, an organization that I found on the internet. My parents were concerned about safety and were reluctant about me going on my own as a 17-year old. But they knew I had my mind made up when I said, “I’m going.”
So Erin, what is the value of this award?
The award is up to $7000 per year for 4 years. I qualified for the maximum.
Wow! How many were awarded this year?
I received the only one for Saskatchewan, and there were 19 given out across Canada.
Erin, what are you enjoying most about your education at Bethany?
The community here. Being surrounded by a larger group of Christians is a new experience for me. I am glad to be taking classes and learning things that I really want to learn.
Erica Ray, Associate Dean of Women, describes Erin as “intelligent, caring, loyal…there is more of her yet to discover and grow. She’s going somewhere, and she has the courage to make things happen.” We are very excited to have Erin as part of the Bethany College community. If you would like more information on Bethany College visit our website at: www.bethany.sk.ca.
To find out more about this awards program, check out the website at: http://www.terryfoxawards.ca/.
~Lisa Braun, Dean of Student Development
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