Efforts pay off through scholarships for Métis student

Jennifer Bozek, a Métis student in 2nd year kinesiology at the University of Saskatchewan, has been winning awards left, right, and centre.

“Coming out of high school, I got the Greystone Scholar Award from the University of Saskatchewan,” she said - for students with a minimum 95% average in grade 12 - receiving $3000 worth of scholarships. “I also got a regional scholarship from the Millenium Scholarship Foundation, and a high school one.”

Back in Meadow Lake’s Carpenter High, Bozek was in basketball, volleyball, track, badminton, and president of the Student Representative Council. In Grade 11 she started a newspaper, producing it monthly for two years; learned about youth business; helped coach basketball; and volunteered with Jubilee Elementary’s after-school program, playing games and doing crafts with the kids.
“I was really involved in school stuff,” she said. She kept up the trend in first and second year kinesiology, where she participates in rec hockey, the university student council, and the kinesiology student society. And the marks were 89% in first year, and a 93% average going into her second semester.

“So my second year I got four more scholarships - three through kinesiology and one from the U of S - it was awesome.”

Bozek received the Aboriginal Student Award from Merle Kisby at the latest U of S awards night, held at Convocation Hall. Merle and her late husband Russ donated the prize in 2005. Jennifer also won the Chase Memorial Scholarship again, among other awards which she directs towards tuition. Awards were held on a Thursday, one of her busiest days in her first semester - classes from 8:30 am to 5 pm, with a lunch and supper break. 

“I go home and eat, then rush back to university. I’m a representative on a student council and we have meetings from 6 to 7 or 6 to 8. Then it’s go home and do homework.”

Raised by mother Jackie Cheze, Bozek says there wasn’t necessarily a lot of cultural emphasis on their shared Métis heritage - although as children, her maternal grandmother spoke Cree or Michif and her maternal grandfather spoke French.

“But they wouldn’t let them speak their own language in the schools, so my Mom didn’t learn them either - so I never got that at home,” says Bozek.  “But in Meadow Lake we had the option in elementary school, so I took Cree from grades three to six, and French from junior high school onwards. And I still remember some.”

One thing her mother could and did pass along was her work ethic.

“I get that from my Mom for sure, and my Dad also has a strong work ethic, so maybe it’s in my genes,” she said.
While she added it’s a lot of work - studying, doing assignments, and preparing for exams - it pays off.

“I’m hoping to get into dentistry after this, so I put a lot of time into school so that I can have a better chance of getting into a professional college,” she said. She hopes to practice dentistry in Meadow Lake, or further up north. And her advice for other students?

“Get involved in what you can, but still take school seriously because that’s what you’re here for - high school too, it’s important for getting into university. It helps with scholarships, and the stress of university,” she said.

In high school, Bozek perfected her organizational skills.
“I had sports practices every day and I’d do homework at night, time management was important because meetings and practices took up time too - so really being organized with time is important.”

But Bozek works hard year-round - last summer’s job was in a warehouse, twelve-hour shifts trucking pulp loads to transport units. On her “days off”, she was a restaurant server at the Meadow Lake golf club. Hard work aside, she’s quick to acknowledge others, and the debt she feels.

“I feel I have been given so much - from teachers, coaches, my mother,” she said, adding that her grade 9 math teacher, Terry Dallyn, coached her in volleyball and encouraged her to apply to kinesiology.

“I just want to be a well-rounded person, and I owe it to give something back,” she added.