Louis-Philippe's Story

My journey in applying for scholarships started with the faulty assumption that any university was better than my city’s university. I grew up living less than a three minute walk from Laval University, and it is not an exaggeration to say that I have walked across the campus hundreds of times. Maybe I wanted to move just to change the view, or perhaps I thought that my problems would magically disappear if I moved to another city.

What made it tougher for me was that scholarships are not as popular in Québec than in the rest of Canada. Most people don’t know what the LORAN or Schulich scholarships are. I didn't even know what they were a few weeks prior to applying. Moreover, there is an additional step between high school and university called CÉGEP. It’s the equivalent of grade twelve and the first year of university. Because of this, high schools usually don’t give many scholarships upon graduation.

However, when I was just starting high school, my mind was not skewed yet by trying to get as much money as possible to study away from home. Yet, I have always been a pretty involved person and I did not take part in activities simply to fill my CV. I volunteered with blood drives, student parliament, student newspaper, holiday activities, and more than I can recount. In grade nine, I also joined the Air Cadets program.

For me, it is not so much taking part in any specific activity that helped me to get scholarships, but rather the positive feedback loop these activities drove me into. I would start an activity or project, gain experience, and meet like minded people that would become my friends. Because these people were very involved and driven, they would motivate me to improve my work and take part in other activities that they were doing, and the cycle would repeat. As Jim Rohn said, “you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” Well, taking part in so many activities allowed me to meet diverse people and, over time, improve my “average”. As such, there is no miracle CV-boosting activity I did to get scholarships. What brought me to the point I am today is the positive interaction between all the spheres of my life.

Let me fast forward a little bit. Before 2019-2020, my scholarship journey was put on ice, as I didn’t have many opportunities to apply. I did get some scholarships through the Cadets program and I would recommend anyone in the program to ask for what opportunities are available. There are a few scholarships that you can get, whether it be nationally, provincially or even within your own squadron. In 2019, I applied through my CÉGEP to a provincial STEM research award and was fortunate enough to become the lucky recipient.The award allowed me to work in physics research at Laval University during the summer. Working there gave me a foot in the world of research, and I learned a lot about what “the real world” is like. If I were to leave a few lessons for you, reader, it would be to try to get as much experience as you can, even if you do it for free at first. The university did not pay me itself, but I received a “salary” in the form of the scholarship. In the end, it allowed me to land another job this summer, this time paid by the university rather than a scholarship.

Shortly after, during the fall semester, I applied for the LORAN scholarship and was nominated by my school. To be honest, I had absolutely no expectations to win. I always had some form of imposter syndrome, and I believed that many “better” candidates would apply. What’s nice about having no expectations is that you are rarely disappointed. I was called for the regional interviews, then national interviews, and I had an incredible time at these two events. It seems weird to say this, but fortunately (and I only say this in retrospect, at the time I was sad) I did not get the scholarship. First, it was a very good ego check that reminded me that rejection is a part of life. Second, it opened the door for my Schulich application.

I completed the Schulich application in turbo jet fashion, because it was due shortly after I came back from the LORAN selection weekend and I did not want to apply if I received the LORAN scholarship. I’m happy to say that I did get the Schulich scholarship, but the selection process really bothered me. People are selected based on their ability to write a good essay showcasing their accomplishments and values, but a text is in no way telling of who you are. It freaked me out a bit that someone was willing to give me $80,000 based on less than 1,000 words that I wrote. Nonetheless, I felt like my personality fitted more with what the Schulich Scholarship offered, as opposed to LORAN. I am more of a guy with a scientific mindset and an interest in technical fields and, although I enjoy community service, I don’t have the same level of community involvement that LORAN scholars exhibit.

So far, what I told you might seem like a success story. When people see you succeeding, they infer that your mental attitude is the same as the image you project in your everyday actions. I was projecting the image of someone driven and disciplined, inspired by some greater purpose. The things going on in my head were a bit different than this image…

When I started to get involved in many projects, I wanted to perform as best as I could in everything I did. I let this desire for performance take control of my life and it has brought me to places that I did not expect. This incredible drive that I had initially left me with performance anxiety, because I became stressed out that I would not be the best in everything (which is very silly, now I know for sure I can’t be the best at everything). This also led me to being focused not on doing more for myself, but for the image that others had of me. When you start living in the eyes of others, you stop being your own master. For a while, I was not my own master anymore.

By telling you this, I hope that I can reframe in your mind the idea that winning a big scholarship is going to change your life only for the better. With it comes a lot of self-imposed stress and pressure that, if uncontrolled, can make you explode. Most importantly, it’s not an all-or-nothing game where what you get is what you are worth; some scholarships are not made for everyone, just like how the LORAN wasn’t a good fit for me. Moreover, it is absolutely normal to find people that are better than you in multiple areas. It took me a while to realize that I was not an outsider to all of the Schulich Leaders, because it seemed that everyone was better than me. At some point, I realized that I had things for myself too that no one else could do. Now, it’s not about being the best, but bringing a valuable contribution to a team.

All the best, friends!

Louis-Philippe