Isabella Grajczyk is one of 30 students from 10 countries forming the first global cohort of McCall MacBain scholars at McGill University in Montreal — the award will cover all tuition and fees for her master’s degree in political science.
“I’m really grateful for all of the people who have supported me,” Grajczyk told MooseJawToday.com. “My family and friends have been instrumental in getting me to where I am today, and I really couldn’t have done it without them.”
Family and community support is essential, but Grajczyk has also proven she has the discipline to succeed.
The 24-year-old has already earned three undergraduate degrees from the University of Regina — at the same time.
“It took me five years … it was a bit excessive, really,” she laughed. “The one I graduated from most recently was an Honours degree in International Studies.”
That is in addition to the education degree and English degree that her hard work had already qualified her for.
The McCall MacBain Scholarship is the result of the second-largest single donation in Canadian history: A landmark $200 million gift in 2019 by John and Marcy McCall MacBain.
Marcy McCall MacBain explained that the scholarship is to encourage purposeful leadership.
“We want to encourage positive leadership for today and the future,” McCall MacBain said. “We aim to support curious, compassionate individuals who are excited to continue building their capacity to make meaningful contributions to society.”
The scholarship covers all tuition and fees for a master’s or professional degree at McGill and grants a living stipend of $2,000 per month during academic terms. In addition, McCall MacBain scholars are enrolled into an active mentorship, coaching, and leadership development program for the duration of their studies.
This is the third year of the McCall MacBain Scholarship, but the first year for the global cohort. Students and graduates applied from more than 1,200 universities around the world. Over 280 community leaders volunteered their time to review applications and interview 242 students regionally. From this group, 88 were invited to a final round of interviews which took place in Montreal in March.
“This is the first time they’ve opened it up to international students, so for the past few years they’ve had 20 Canadian students who got it, but this year they added 10 spots for international scholars,” Grajczyk said. “At the final interviews, we got to meet people from all these amazing places, doing incredible things, which was really, really cool.”
Scholars are chosen based on their character, community engagement, leadership potential, entrepreneurial spirit, academic strength, and intellectual curiosity.
Grajczyk earned her place with a list of accomplishments that goes well beyond her academic achievements, including receiving the Duke of Edinburgh International Award when she graduated from Vanier Collegiate; founding Sask Girls United, where she is still the executive director and for which she received the Diana Award last year; working with the United Nations Development Program on gender equity projects; serving on the board of the Regina Public Interest Research Group, and a lot more.
Her graduate degree will focus on development studies issues, specifically how crises such as war, disease, and climate change affect gender development and equity in affected regions.
“I feel very lucky to be able to pursue my master’s stress-free without any financial barriers,” she added. “It’s really a blessing.”
