A Prince Albert woman is the only recipient in Canada to win the most recent round of the Working Parent Scholarship.
The $1,000 scholarship offered by Job-Applications.ca recognizes one student in Canada who’s also working to provide for children.
Kimberly Rock is in her last year of her Masters in Counselling Psychology degree, which she’s taking online through Alberta’s Athabasca University.
She’s also raising a four-year-old daughter. With her husband working out of province for 22 days of the month, Rock has had to develop a support system so she can succeed in school.
“It truly is a balancing act. You have to be very well organized and you have to make sure that you have kind of a support network in place to help you when you need the extra time to do assignments or somebody in the family gets sick. Things like that happen,” she said.
The 34-year-old mom hopes to work in the region as a registered psychologist when she’s completed her degree.
Her biggest piece of advice for parents considering a post-secondary education is to make sure you really want it.
“It won’t be easy, especially if you’re working. You have to have that motivation to get it done.”
Rock submitted an 800-word essay on how she balances “the school, work, life juggle.” To read her essay and the essays of past recipients, click here.
The fact that she won the award is a reassuring feeling.
“Equally important is the validation that this award provides me: that my hard work is noticed and that it is worth the effort to apply for different scholarships, bursaries and awards,” she said.
Rock explained that there’s no limitations to how you spend the money—she said it will help her pay for expenses such as tuition and bills.
“The financial strain on working parents returning to school is real. Our Working Parent Scholarship is our way to help reduce some of that pressure,” said Job-Applications.ca President Doug Crawford in a news release.
Job-Applications.ca and its United States counterpart, Job-Applications.com, have awarded a total of $30,000 to working parents.
