Muenster School student Mackenzie Kuervers has a lot to celebrate these days. Not only is she graduating this June, but she’s also bound for the U of S Agriculture and Bioresources College via way of St. Peter’s College in Muenster. To top it off, much, if not all, of her tuition will be covered for her first year and her subsequent three years through the Peter Lewochco Bursary, presented to Mackenzie by the University of Saskatchewan.
The bursary is valued at $8800 for the fall 2024-25 academic year and is renewable for three additional years provided Kuervers remains in the College of Agriculture as a full-time student with a set average.
“I am unbelievably amazed and so grateful,” said Kuervers enthusiastically. “It takes a lot of the stress off me as well.”
Kuervers will be attending Muenster’s St. Peter’s College for her first year of study in the U of S program. She was the recipient of an Accelerated Scholarship in her grade 12 year, which afforded her the opportunity to get an early start by attending a university credit class at no charge. She elected to return to the campus this fall.
“I love it there. It’s a nice community where the people are great and very helpful.”
The general studies first year in the College of Agriculture and Bioresources allows Kuervers the latitude to explore a variety of options and confirm some of her targets for study.
“I want to maybe grow into crop technology or agronomy for an agronomist position, but I’m not quite sure yet. We'll see how the first year plays out and take it from there. I want to take one stepping stone at a time, put my toes in the water and see how it goes.”
As part of the Horizon School Division, Career and Graduation Coaches support students with developing plans for post-secondary, work, apprenticeship training and other pathways. One such coach, Brent Loehr, worked with Mackenzie in helping her to identify potential funding opportunities both within and outside the university. It’s how she came across the application for the bursary. Kuervers is a strong advocate for taking the time to explore and apply for awards.
“He (Loehr) put me on to the sites, I started going through them, put in some applications with some information about myself, and that’s how it went. Just take the time to put the applications in. Get your resume or whatever you need for it and send it in.”
With a bit of the pressure off for fall funding, Mackenzie has a chance for some trips out west to destinations like Lake Louise or Calgary for the Stampede. The pressures of university will take a back seat for a few months with a lock on tuition for her post-secondary start.
"I just want to say thank you to all my teachers at Muenster School for helping me out over the last how many years, to my career counsellor (Brent Loehr) for help finding these scholarships, and to anyone in my life who has pushed me to always do better.”
Mon, Jun 24, 7:30 PM
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