I had my father for the first 15 years of my life. He was a hardworking man who took care of his family, parents, and friends. He is my biggest role model and the person I look up to the most too. I never knew the weight of money as he always put food on the table. That all changed when my father, after a 2-year battle with aggressive multiple myeloma passed away on Feb 12, 2021. He went through multiple treatments and experimental treatments, but nothing could stop the cancer’s progression. I closed his eyes on his deathbed 14 days after my 15th birthday and promised him that I would take care of our family.
My father was the sole provider for our family and was self-employed in the forestry sector. My mother didn’t have a job because she took care of me and my little brother who needs 24-hour care because he has down syndrome and autism. My mother fell into a serious depression and struggled with health issues which led to me helping raise my little brother. Money started to get low, and we started to just scrape by, credit cards and government checks were keeping us just out of losing utilities and missing payments. On Sept 8, 2022, I joined the Canadian Armed Forces as a part-time reservist with the 36th Combat Engineer Regiment in Sydney, NS to serve my country and to take care of some of our bills. I work 7 hours a week with my unit and do trade courses to make money.
My father was a very healthy man before he was diagnosed and therefore never thought about getting life insurance. If my father had life-insurance, these past few years would have had no hardship and stress about bills and money and would have reduced the effects on my mother's mental and physical health.
Over these hard years, I have kept my grades high to be able to get a higher education and took part in my community by volunteering when I could and in my culture by being a tradition bearer of the Gaelic language and Cape Breton fiddle style. With this scholarship I would use it towards my bachelor’s degree in geomatics, so that I can become a surveyor to fully provide for my mother and brother without the need of financial worry. As I become the sole provider of my family and still work part time in the army, I will be getting life insurance for myself to protect my family from this life lesson.
