King's Student Awarded Rhodes Scholarship

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King's Student Awarded Rhodes Scholarship

King’s student Rosanna Nicol has been awarded a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship.

Rosanna Nicol, a fourth-year history and economics student will be attending the University of Oxford in England next year on a Rhodes Scholarship, one of two awarded  to students at Maritime universities. The other was awarded to Susan Humphrey, at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick. Nicol plans to use the opportunity to pursue a Masters in Economics and Development.
 
Nicol has never been to England, though after completing the Foundation Year Programme she spent six months in Germany studying the language and teaching it to refugees. She then traveled to Ghana to work with the Osu Children’s Library Fund, a non-profit organization, founded by a Manitoban, that creates libraries and promotes literacy in eight of Ghana’s ten regions.

After her year abroad, Nicol returned to King’s because she enjoyed the close-knit community. Nicol is a member of the King’s College Chapel Choir and played a principal role in the organization and fundraising required to bring a refugee student to study at King’s through the World University Service of Canada. Thanks to this totally student driven initiative, the first WUSC student will join the King’s Community in September 2010.

Nicol began the lengthy application process for the Rhodes scholarship in October. She submitted a personal statement as well as six letters of reference and was interviewed twice before learning of her success. Nicol says she gained a lot of experience from the process, and would encourage other students to apply for the scholarship. At the very least, she says, you will come out of the experience with six letters of recommendation. But more importantly, the experience is a great process for self reflection.

“It’s a chance to think about why you do what you do and what your place is in the world”.

Since becoming a Rhodes Scholar, Nicol says other Canadian Rhodes Scholars have contacted her to offer their congratulations and to provide advice. As she nears her graduation from King’s, Nicol has found herself part of a new close-knit community.