NORTH QUEENS – Courtney Cockerill was thrilled when she found out she had won the $5,000 Horatio Alger Canadian Scholarship.
Cockerill was one of 80 students across the country to win the $5,000 scholarship, which she applied for in September after learning about it from her guidance counsellor.
“(My guidance counsellor) has been incredibly supportive through my final year, and she gives me every scholarship possible that she thinks I can apply for, and I’ve applied for everything,” said the Grade 12 North Queens Community School student.
The money, she explains, will be divided across her four years of university, so she’ll have $1,250 each year.
Extra-curricular
One of the scholarship’s eligibility criterion is to be involved in co-curricular activities, and Cockerill certainly does not shy away from these.
“I played basketball for my first time this year, and I was in my sixth year playing volleyball (and) my sixth year in student council,” said the North Queens resident.
After serving as student council president last year, this year Cockerill decided to give herself a little break. But she is still on council - instead of being president this year, Cockerill is a representative.
In addition to sports and student council, Cockerill is also involved in her school’s social justice club.
She competed in track and field last year and the year before, but she says she hasn’t decided whether she’ll participate this year.
“I’m in physics and pre-cal, and it’s a little more tough than the years before,” said Cockerill.
She says if things slow down, she’ll definitely be back on the track.
Another first in sports for Cockerill this year is softball.
Cockerill says at the beginning of the school year, there was almost no senior volleyball team.
“And I love volleyball,” she said. “It’s my favourite sport.”
To continue to be involved with the sport she loves, Cockerill helped co-coach the junior girls’ team. She did the co-coaching role a few times, and eventually a senior girls’ team did develop.
Overcoming adversity
Another of the scholarship’s criterion is to “display integrity and perseverance in overcoming adversity.”
Cockerill says she’s been struggling with depression since she was about 13 years old and in Grade 8.
“Grade 8 was definitely my most tough year,” she said.
Depression is something Cockerill has seen firsthand on her father’s side of the family. She’s seen the struggles her father has gone through.
“Rather than follow his path, I try to be more independent,” she said. “That’s why, when it comes to school, when it comes to my grades, I try to do so well.”
She says she’s seen where bad paths can lead and does not want to end up going down one of them.
Cockerill has also overcome adversity by going through her parents’ separation. Following her parents’ separation, Cockerill’s father moved to Halifax and, eventually, Cockerill’s mother moved to Yarmouth to be with the person she’s seeing.
“Mom was going to wait until I graduated to move to Yarmouth, but it just made more sense for them to go as soon as possible, that way my brother could start a new school year there,” she explained.
Cockerill says it was her choice to stay in Caledonia to finish her final year of high school.
“I didn’t want to have to switch schools in Grade 12,” she added.
Cockerill says finishing high school without her family is challenging, but she says she visits them as much as possible.
Post-secondary plan
To apply for the scholarship, Cockerill had to “exhibit a strong commitment to pursue and complete a degree at a post-secondary institution.”
This September, Cockerill is set to head to Mount Allison University in Sackville, N.B. to study aviation. Ultimately, she would like to become a commercial pilot with WestJet.
“When I was 13, our school made the decision that they’d be sending a group of students to Europe to attend the 100th year anniversary of the battle of Vimy Ridge, in 2017,” said Cockerill.
With every intention of going on that trip, Cockerill says she got her first job when she was 13. From then, she worked during the summers, after school and on weekends to pay for her trip.
“I had never been on a plane before. I hadn’t even left the province until this trip,” she said.
She was on a lot of flights during the trip, and air travel did not disappoint Cockerill in the least. In fact, she loved it.
“I loved the atmosphere. I loved everything about it, and I wanted to know more about it,” she said.
Cockerill applied for Mount Allison’s aviation program at the beginning of the school year and found out she’d been accepted about a month later. Much like when she found out about the scholarship, she was overjoyed.
“I was actually in school when I found out,” she said.
With high school’s end looming in the short distance, Cockerill says she has a lot of emotions. She’s excited, nervous and sad.
“I’m incredibly excited and incredibly ready to start the next chapter of my life. Not a day goes by where I don’t think about myself in four months from now,” she said.
“I’ve made it this far on my own, and I’m proud of myself, and I’m excited to see where that determination takes me.”
To learn more about the scholarship, visit https://horatioalger.ca/en/scholarships/about-our-scholarships-programs/provincial-programs/.
