A recipient of both the Ben McConnell and KPMG Bursaries, Zachary Abdalla is a student at the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business, pursuing a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing.
“I’ve always had the drive to go to university since I started kindergarten. My parents have degrees, and my sibling entered post-secondary a few years before me. This dream of learning, growing, and meeting people at my school has been fostered by CNIB throughout my life, and a scholarship granted by them is another way that they support people who are blind or have low vision.
There’s always tension in school between finance and fulfillment, and many people have to make hard choices when it comes to pursuing higher education. CNIB’s generous scholarships are making these choices more manageable for me. I don’t have to choose between classes based on cost; I don’t need to worry about getting a job while school is in session. The scholarships I received allow me to study, breathe, and learn more comfortably, knowing that a portion of my tuition is not a worry. This allows me to free up more money to purchase necessary assistive tech for school and other aspects of life.
In a word, CNIB scholarships have given me freedom: The freedom to access my education, the freedom to get the technology I need to be my best self and excel in my classes, and the freedom to invest in myself for the future.
CNIB is an organization that has truly changed my life in so many ways, and the scholarships I’ve received are one of the most impactful ways they have helped make me a better person. Thank you, CNIB, for everything.” – Zachary Abdalla