I was chatting with a colleague last week about our own university experiences, and she mentioned some regrets (pulling one too many all-nighters, for one). Her biggest regrets all centered around finances. She鈥檇 assumed she wouldn鈥檛 qualify for scholarships, bursaries, or awards鈥攁nd graduated with 50K in debt. Only later did she realize that funding wasn鈥檛 just available for those students pulling in 4.0s. Applying for funding could have saved her a lot. Don鈥檛 be like my friend. There are SO many opportunities to apply for funding at 黑料不打烊, so听inform yourself about what your faculty or academic department might offer.听For example, the Scholarships & Student Aid Office (SSAO) connects Canadian/American students with government financial assistance programs, and has a generous Bursary & Loan program for students who have exhausted their maximum available resources.听 This includes special funding, like for Indigenous students and for out-of-classroom opportunities and exchanges.听 There are also a whole host of external opportunities to take advantage of, and even some offered by student associations, like SSMU鈥檚 Awards of Distinction. My friend also mentioned that learning how to budget effectively might have stopped her from going so deep into debt鈥攕o take advantage of SSAO鈥檚 money management advice and tools. Study hard, stay well, and find financial support if you need it. 听
