Tari Ajadi has something to celebrate.
Last week, the Quest University student was awarded the 3M National Student Fellowship. The award honours up to 10 fulltime undergraduate students at Canadian institutions who demonstrate outstanding leadership in their lives and in classes.
Each candidate provided a definition of leadership in the context of his or her educational experience. The students explained why they aspired to leadership roles and were asked to share a challenge they encountered in post-secondary education that they overcame.
“My essay on leadership detailed my experiences thus far and centred around the idea that leadership is about emphasizing capabilities by asking tough questions, among other traits like empathy and honesty,” Ajadi said.
His 15-page paper outlined a public-private funding organization that would provide students with funding for school by connecting them with summer jobs. The students would receive the training that they need to work in an industry in the future, and also get paid enough to attend school.
The idea is meant to solve two problems, Ajadi said. First, the entry-level job fiasco, where to gain an entry-level job, one needs training that you can only get from working that job; and second, the problem of school becoming increasingly expensive, Ajadi said.
Ajadi received $5,000 with the award and is invited to a conference of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in Kingston, Ont.
