Donors' generosity makes a world of difference

“[Studying law] is about making a valuable contribution to society… the pursuit of the law is both an honour and an obligation,” says Travis Avery, a recent graduate of the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Law. “It’s about providing an expert opinion on a complex legal matter so someone can make an informed decision or standing up for someone who has been wronged.” Travis credits a scholarship with helping ease the financial burdens of post-secondary education, allowing him to make the most of his time in school. “The scholarship provided me with peace of mind and the ability to focus my entire effort on my studies.”

Travis was also the recipient of the Iceland Travel and Study Award, an endowed fund created by Agnes Stephanson Cooke to support student research about, and research-related travel to, Iceland. "I thought that studying abroad would be the perfect way to both continue my studies and gain valuable life experience outside the classroom at the same time," he says. Indeed Travis' experience provided him with plenty of both. "I had the joy of studying Aristotle's Nicomedian Ethics and Hobbes' Leviathan in Theory of Rights … I studied subjects that are not offered in Canada from a perspective that is not considered." 

Additionally, studying abroad in Iceland offered plenty of interesting experiences of its own—especially when it came to learning Icelandic, a tricky language to master. “In class we would routinely sing songs to help us remember basic vocabulary, we would play board games to help us grasp numbers and concepts like telling time … all in all it was a wonderfully amusing educational experience, almost like returning to kindergarten but being old enough to fully appreciate it.”

Donor support makes a huge difference in the lives of thousands of students like Travis each day at the University of Saskatchewan. “The words ‘thank you’ do so little to capture and convey the breadth of experiences that [donors] contribute to,” says Travis.