Preparation is the most important step, yet it is often easily ignored by many high school students. ‘Scholarship’ is not “free money” – it is a careful “investment” made by the scholarship committee for the future of the community/university. Therefore, you have to demonstrate that you are indeed the right candidate who deserves the scholarship and will make a positive impact in the future. 

I would like to use a cooking analogy to compare the scholarship process. Preparation is collecting and preparing all the ingredients that will be used for the dish (the dish being your application). Before applying for any scholarship, you should build your portfolio.  This should include your academic achievements (average %), extra-curricular activities, volunteer activities and a unique storyline that represents who you truly are. 

The sooner you start, the better! I would highly recommend starting to build your portfolio from Grade 9 (that’s what I did). The table below represents the part of my portfolio that I used for my scholarship applications

As you can see from the table above, I have participated in diverse areas of activities since Grade 9 – from sports to Saskatchewan youth politics. Preparation for the scholarship is not a short-term effort; it is the final moment to show off everything that you have accomplished in your high school years. 

Hence, explore and find your interest (sports, clubs or social organizations), then put in your time and effort. If you would like to go above and beyond, start a new club or organization and build it up over time! For my example, I was interested in expressing “Student Voices” to the school and community, which resulted in creating Vikings Speak (NBCHS Magazine Club) and Saskatchewan Students’ Federation (SSF)! Starting a new project as a founder and group leader will demonstrate your initiative, communication and teamwork skills, which are highly valued by the scholarship committees.  

Remember, consistency is key. You are not doing these activities solely for the scholarship, but for your lifelong learning and intellectual development as well! Try to find your own unique “colour” to shine yourself! 

🌟TIP: Building an online portfolio is extremely beneficial and makes you stand out among countless candidates! Something to consider and another skill you can possibly highlight in your applications.

On top of focusing on diverse activities in the previous section, you would also need these additional ingredients to get further prepared for your scholarship application: 

Grades – Maintain good grades. Although you do not need a 99%-100% average, you should aim for a +95% average if you wish to be considered as an outstanding candidate. Excellence in academics would be the most efficient measure for the scholarship committee to estimate your potential to succeed in the future. Some prestigious scholarships require specific grades (ex: +95% average) as the first step for the application, and some have an automatic scholarship if you exceed certain grades. My advice would be “try your best and study hard!”

Letter of Recommendation – Find 3-5 adults (other than your direct family members or relatives) who know you well. These people may be your principal, academic advisor, club teacher, sports team coach, class teacher or employer. Then, politely ask them to write a “GOOD” letter of recommendation about you. 

🌟TIP: Prepare a “Cheat-sheet” including strengths, activities, personalities and leadership roles that you wish to be highlighted in the letters of recommendation that you can provide to those you ask to write them. This extra step will significantly boost the quality of the letter. 

Awards/Honours – Awards and honours are proof of your talents and dedication. They will serve you as an additional “boost” to shape you as an influential and remarkable candidate. In my cases, I have received awards on diverse scales: school, provincial and international levels (ex: 2024 Saskatchewan Student Citizenship Award). These awards demonstrated that I not only possess the potential to become a community leader, but also an excellent global leader. 

Future Plans – Construct your future plans. Which university would you like to be part of? How would you like to influence on-campus during your undergraduate years? What kind of job would you like to get? How would you make a positive impact on your community/nation/world? Later on, making connections between your current activities and your future plans will play a significant role in representing yourself as a thoughtful candidate, one step ahead of others. 

If you cannot find the available scholarships, all your work will not be used, no matter how well you prepare. For the cooking analogy, this process is finding and targeting the right customers to present your cuisine. 

Although many students know open scholarships from ScholarshipsCanada.com or ScholarTree, these scholarships tend to have a small amount of grants and a high competition level. Furthermore, notable scholarships such as Schulich Leader Scholarships ($120,000), Loran Scholars Foundation Scholarship ($100,000) and TD Scholarship for Community Leadership ($70,000) are extremely competitive with several stages to be qualified among top Canadian students. 

Therefore, I would recommend targeting ‘university scholarships’ that are often hidden behind those mega-scholarships. Each university has its own unique scholarship program, ranging from $1,000 to $100,000 (full-ride). Simply search the university website that you wish to attend and look for upcoming scholarship opportunities.

Make sure you pay close attention to the deadline since most of the university scholarships will open in early September and close before the Christmas break (mid-December). Balance your school hours (grades, extra-curricular activities and volunteering) and save enough time to explore several scholarship applications!

🌟TIP: Apply early for your university application. Make sure you complete both the university admission & scholarship application process together as early as possible! Preparing them over the summer break will greatly save your time and energy for the upcoming senior year. 

Moreover, searching for more local and community-based scholarships through the Student Service Office and the Academic Advisor is also very efficient. Although the amount of scholarship may not cover all four years of your undergraduate studies, additional grants will always help ease your financial burdens.

Now, once everything is ready to go, you will start crafting the masterpiece to impress the scholarship committee and express yourself to the world. To continue the cooking analogy, this is the actual “cooking” part where you use all of your ingredients together, articulate certain flavours and create perfect harmony with delightful and sensational “taste” unique to you. 

Initially, examine the objectives/goals of the scholarship for which you are applying. What values does this organization/university pursue? What kind of candidates do they wish to discover? Then connect and match their values with your own. Countless students have boring storylines about their families and friends with vague cliches of “I've always wanted to make a difference” or “I have a strong passion for helping others.”  The more specific you can be, the more you will stand out.

In my experience, scholarship committees are fed up with these common approaches. Instead, you should use your unique and specific examples to build a dramatic storyline and engage the scholarship committee with your story. Imagine you are producing a film about your life and presenting it to the scholarship committee!

🌟TIP: Use a major challenge or crisis in your lifetime (the more recent, the better) and demonstrate how you responded and overcame that struggling moment. Turn your obstacles into opportunities and your problems into possibilities!

In the end, you have to include what IMPACT you brought to the world and how you improved your school/community/province/nation. A bigger impact (scope) will make you more valuable, just like sports players with greater stats have higher market value. 

🌟TIP: It doesn't hurt to THINK BIG. As a GLOBAL LEADER what changes would you like to be a part of or help initiate? 

I've included one of the essays that I wrote for my own scholarship applications, it played a significant role in receiving a full-ride offer to Colgate University. My main focus, as a global leader, was “Student Voices” under the provincial issues of Quality Education and Youth Mental Health. I pieced most of my activities together with these big ideas throughout the serious provincial crisis between the Saskatchewan Provincial Government and the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation, regarding provincial public education: Read Ruhan's Scholarship Essay Sample

Now it’s your turn! Translate your magical experiences into a miraculous story that represents YOU! 

This final stage of waiting can be as difficult as applying for the scholarship. Once you have given your best, my advice is to relax, wait and focus on other important tasks you have to work on. 

If you did not receive the scholarship that you wished for, think that other candidates were better “fit” for that scholarship and just move on! There is nothing you can gain from blaming or criticizing yourself. Each scholarship has its specific niche for the recipients, and obviously, you can not match all those niches since you are a single outstanding individual with a unique story all your own. 

To sum up our cooking analogy, no matter how amazing your dish is, it will not be loved by everyone. Some people have certain preferences and may not properly evaluate your food. However, if you find one person who matches your style and absolutely loves your food, your cuisine will shine more than ever. Personally, as a Christian, I cast all my cares and worries to God. As a result, he took my burdens and gave me incredible gifts that I could not even imagine.  It is about finding a belief system that works for you and giving yourself grace to succeed as well as fail.

Ultimately, humility (low expectations and continuous hard work) will lead you to one day to receiving an email notifying you of the good news, starting with “Congratulations!”