Acknowledgements
Positionality Statement
This project started while the authors attended Queen’s University and lived on the land now known as Kingston, ON, which is the traditional homeland of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Huron-Wendat Peoples. We would like to acknowledge the colonial nature of academic institutions and how that, and our settler privilege, contributed to our opportunity to create this resource. Our team condemns the ongoing impacts of colonization and the current colonial practices that threaten the safety and oppress, devalue, and take away the voices and rights of Indigenous Peoples. We would also like to acknowledge Indigenous Peoples’ ongoing resistance, including their fight to decolonize education and make it a space where Indigenous voices are heard and celebrated. We encourage our readers who are colonial settlers to reflect on their privilege and how they can actively work to decolonize the institutions they are involved in, to meaningfully contribute to reconciliation.
We would also like to share a part of our relationship to the land, and why we are grateful. We have had the privilege of hiking around the Frontenac area, South Frontenac is located on the ancestral lands of the Algonquin, Anishinaabe, and the Haudenosaunee Peoples. For millennia, Indigenous Peoples hunted and gathered on these lands, navigating the lakes, rivers, and streams as a means of travel. We have had the pleasure of visiting the trails in this space which offer a serene escape and a deep connection to nature. While exploring these landscapes, we have found peace and inspiration in the natural beauty and diversity of flora and fauna. Here we have heard frogs ribbit, snakes slither, and the song of many beautiful birds. Being grateful for this beauty means we take responsibility for its care, especially as settlers on these lands.
If you are a settler and not Indigenous to the land on which you currently reside, we encourage you to educate yourself on the land’s colonial history. We also encourage you to take a moment on the land to appreciate the beauty and community around you, and consider how you can fulfill your responsibility to sustain it. For settlers living on Turtle Island, we would like to offer you some resources to start your journey:
Learning Resources About First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Across Canada
- Author(s): Government of Canada
- A starting place to learn about the history of Indigenous Peoples and a variety of Indigenous resources and initiatives across Canada.
- Author(s): Elder Blu Waters, Randy Pitawanakwat, and Darcey Dachyshyn
- An open-access resource to support individuals and institutions working towards understanding the colonial history of Canada, and its ongoing impact on people who are First Nations, Métis, and Inuit.
- Author(s): Queen’s University
- A collection of resources to decolonize education.
Recognitions
We would like to start by extending our heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Meghan Norris for her invaluable instruction, mentorship, and guidance. Her PSYC400: Teaching and Learning in Psychology seminar course marked the inception of this project and without her, this Guide would not exist. Dr. Norris has an unparalleled ability to inspire students and we admire her drive to dismantle barriers in both education and beyond. Her infectious optimism fosters a progressive mindset within the Queen’s University Psychology Department, and we are grateful for the opportunity to learn from her. Dr. Norris is an incredibly talented educator and mentor, and we are deeply thankful for her unwavering support.
Thank you to the Dunin-Deshpande Queen’s Innovation Centre, for accepting our project into the QYourVenture Program. Their mentorship and assistance have helped this project to flourish, and we are grateful for their input and guidance. We would also like to thank the Canadian Foundation for Economic Education (CFEE). The CFEE has a mission that correlates with the content of our work and we appreciate their advice on our efforts throughout this project. Thank you to the Kingston Economic Development Corporation for their support and guidance. Their collaboration helped to advance our mission to improve access to higher education in the Kingston region and beyond.
We sought external feedback from individuals with expertise on the Guide’s content. Thank you to Greg Hicks, who provided feedback on the following chapters: Scholarship Application Materials, Step-by-Step Guide to Scholarship Applications, Sample Scholarship Applications, and Editing Your Scholarship Applications. Thank you to Nadia ter Stege, who provided feedback on the Resumes and Cover Letters chapter. Thank you to Daria Patrusheva, who provided feedback on the Unpacking Financial Aid and Navigating Scholarship Webpages chapters. Lastly, thank you to Liz Leckie, who provided consultation for the Expense Calculations chapter. We are grateful for their incredible feedback and insight, and for helping us to improve the quality and integrity of this resource.
We would also like to express our gratitude to the many other individuals who supported this project. This project started as coursework for credit and has evolved into an incredible interdisciplinary and pan-faculty collaboration. We would like to thank Alicia Udvari (Artsci’23, BAH, Queen’s University), for bringing our vision for the incredible cover design and logo to life. We would like to thank Eric Brousseau for his time and creative efforts in assisting with promotional materials, including filming and editing. Eric was a supportive and accommodating representative of the Queen’s Psychology Department, and we are incredibly grateful for his contributions. We would also like to thank Taylor Dunfield for filming additional multimedia content at the Isabel Bader Centre in Kingston, ON. Her professionalism and ingenuity as a filmmaker and creative made it an honour to collaborate with her. Thank you to Ange Lyon, for facilitating some of our interdisciplinary connections and for helping us to navigate the transition from student group to venture. Her advice and support were instrumental to increasing the scope of this project. We would also like to thank Nadya Allen from Career Services at Queen’s University for meeting with us on several occasions to share her knowledge and expertise.
And lastly, thank you to you, the reader, for whom this Guide was made. We deeply appreciate your commitment to prioritizing financial literacy and we hope that our project helps you to pursue your dream of higher education.
