Brock place for IB student
THE winner of a scholarship to Brock University could not believe it when she received the phone call.
Robyn Palfrey, a student at the Grammar School and Sixth Form Centre, said she had to ask the caller to repeat themself before she accepted the news.
‘I was completely shocked,’ said Miss Palfrey.
‘Eddie Martel [Education’s higher education and legal manager] called and just said “Well, first of all, congratulations”, and at first it didn’t register.
‘I had to keep asking if he was sure I’d got it because I didn’t want to get my hopes all the way up and then him say “actually, no, you haven’t got it”, so I was completely over the moon.’
Miss Palfrey will be heading to the university at the start of the next academic year to read English language and literature as her major, with geography as a minor.
The two subjects form part of the International Baccalaureate qualification that she is studying towards.
‘I love travelling, I love going to new places and I’m not afraid of meeting new people, so I thought, “what an incredible opportunity”.’
Kieran James, director of the Sixth Form, said the scholarship from the university had been a big success for the school.
‘In the last five years we’ve had four Brock scholarships from the Sixth Form here,’ he said.
‘The two most recent ones have been IB students.
‘Because IB is recognised by Canadian universities, and universities everywhere in the world – more than A-levels are – it’s a natural progression, if you like, for a student.
‘Also, Brock will look at an IB student and say “they are very attractive as a well-rounded academic student”.’
n Brock University is in the province of Ontario, just 10 miles from Niagara Falls.
It has been offering a full academic scholarship to one postgraduate and one undergraduate student from the Bailiwick since 1992.
The award is made in honour of the institution’s namesake, Sir Isaac Brock – a Guernseyman in charge of the armies that defended the Ontario region in the War of 1812.
