By Angie Abdou
Fernie Secondary School student Kiera Hansen has won the 16-thousand-dollar Davidson Honors Scholarship (DHS) to attend University of Montana. As long as Hansen keeps her grades high, the scholarship is renewable for each of her 4 years in the University of Montana honors journalism program, amounting to a total of 64 thousand dollars (US) during her undergraduate degree.
The DHS committee awards academic scholarships to incoming students to recognize outstanding talent, academic performance, and leadership. Hansen was one of nearly 700 applicants.
In January, Hansen was thrilled to discover that she’d been short-listed for the award. Her letter informed her: “Our honors scholarships are among the University’s most prestigious and generous academic awards for incoming students. Your status as a finalist reflects the extraordinary quality of your achievements and our belief in your boundless potential.”
Everyone on the short-list participated in an online interview, knowing winners would be announced in early March. Given the intense competition, Hansen felt gratitude for the experience of the interview and thought winning the scholarship might be a longshot. However, on March 2, Hansen received a very happy-making letter from University of Montana’s Dean.
The Dean confirmed that Hansen had a lot to celebrate, writing: “Take this moment to be proud. This is truly a remarkable achievement.”
When Hansen got the email, she ran upstairs to tell her mom and then to the phone to call the rest of her family. Her grandpa had passed away a month earlier. “So when I told my Grandma about the scholarship, the first thing she said was ‘I wish papa was here to see this.’”
Though the scholarship is academic rather than athletic, Hansen does attribute some of her success to her sport of swimming. She started swimming at 6 years old and has trained and competed at a high level ever since. “Swimming has taught me how to be resilient during the toughest times of my life. It has also taught me how to be patient, as sometimes hard work comes with delayed results. Just because your dreams are taking time, doesn’t mean they’re not happening.”
Applying the work ethic she learned in the pool, Hansen is excited to immerse herself in University of Montana’s renowned journalism program and embark on a career of sharing other people’s stories.