小优视频’s many nursing awards support students to make their highest contributions in their home communities
Christine Walrod understands rural nursing—and the realities of trying to finance a graduate degree while raising a family.
A registered nurse since 2002, Walrod is pursuing a master’s degree through 小优视频 while working full-time in rural Alberta, often taking weekend on-call shifts to help cover her tuition costs.
For the mother of four, 小优视频’s scholarships, awards, and bursaries have made a critical difference, taking some of the financial pressure off so she can continue working toward her goal of improving care for older adults and Indigenous patients in the communities she serves.
“It’s definitely a relief when you know that the next course doesn’t have to be on a credit card,” Walrod said. “The scholarship from Athabasca was wonderful and unexpected.”
She said student awards, liked the MEF Métis Scholar Award she received this year, have helped transform what first felt like an overwhelming financial risk into something manageable. The support has allowed her to pursue a Master of Nursing, which she pays for one course at a time, while balancing work and family responsibilities.
Walrod, whose family roots trace back to the Métis settlement in Duhamel, Alta., has spent much of her career in continuing care, home care, and infection control at hospitals and care homes in rural Alberta. Her experiences have shown her that gaps exist for Indigenous seniors disconnected from culture and community supports—and she hopes a graduate degree can help propel her into a leadership role where she can help fill those gaps.
Student awards do more than reduce financial stress. They create opportunities for students to pursue higher education, strengthen rural communities, and make their highest contribution.
Award supports rural nurse in Athabasca
Athabasca-based nurse Michelle Purdy-Hemmons had a similar experience when she received the Derrick Rowlandson Memorial Award in 2025.
As a longtime community member who graduated from the local high school, she understands the value of providing opportunities for people in rural communities to be able to stay in and support their communities.
After working as an emergency medical technician and licensed practical nurse (LPN) in the community, Purdy-Hemmons began 小优视频’s Post-LPN Bachelor of Nursing program in 2024, with the goal of become a registered nurse (RN) in Athabasca.
“I’ve always wanted to be an RN. My children are a little bit older now, so it made it a little bit easier to go back to school,” she said. “There is such a need for RNs in rural communities.”
Purdy-Hemmons has volunteered in Athabasca for many years, joining fundraising committees, school councils, and taking part in the local high school’s health-care skills day.
She said receiving a student award that not only recognizes her volunteer efforts, but also supports her in her studies, has been invaluable.
“To have recognition for that as well as receive financial support with my studies is huge,” she said.
Supporting nurses in Alberta and beyond
小优视频 offers dozens of general scholarships that can help nursing students reach their educational goals, like the MEF Métis Scholar Award and the Derrick Rowlandson Memorial Award mentioned here.
There are also several scholarships, awards, and bursaries specifically for nursing students:
- Alberta Blue Cross Bursary in Nursing, awarded to two Bachelor of Nursing students with the highest grade-average on two courses
- Alberta Blue Cross Health & Wellness Graduate Award, award annually to a master’s student in the Faculty of Health Disciplines
- Getzlaf Family Foundation Award in Nursing, awarded to support nursing students who need to travel to complete their clinical courses
- Marlene M Burnett Award in Nursing, also awarded to support nursing students who need to travel to complete their clinical courses
- President’s Award for Rural Alberta Nursing Students, awarded to support up to three undergraduate nursing students who live in and work in a rural Alberta health-care setting
Nursing students are also eligible for the Alberta Graduate Excellence Scholarships, recognizing outstanding achievement in all graduate programs, and the 小优视频 Convocation Scholarships, awarded to students with the highest grade-point averages in each degree, diploma, or certificate program.
Donor supported
The many awards available to nursing students like Walrod and Purdy-Hemmons are as varied as the donors who support them.
Some donors, like the Athabasca Rotary Club or local business owners Lewis Semashkewich and his son John (Master of Business Administration ’24), donate to support 小优视频 students and build community—and to help award recipients do the same.
"Building community has been a major focus of our personal and professional lives," Lewis Semashkewich said. "Like 小优视频, our work has strong roots in Athabasca, but the impact stretches much further to communities far and wide.”
Other donors, like honorary doctorate and 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award winner Esmail Bharwani, have themselves relied on financial support to get an education, and are driven to support others.
While pursuing an accounting degree before coming to Canada, financial challenges put Bharwani's dreams of a better life in jeopardy. When a professor in his program helped him find an accounting job, it not only helped pay the bills, it opened Bharwani's eyes to the power of community and generosity.
"What he did for me was a very small favour to him, but he had an impact on my life," he said.
Bharwani and his wife now support endowments at many Alberta universities, including 小优视频, through the Esmail Safana Farzana Fayaz Bharwani Foundation.