By Lori Tarbett
Twenty-one-year-old Alysia Garmulewicz is still feeling a little overwhelmed after learning she was awarded a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship on Nov. 22, 2008.
“I was absolutely thrilled, and it’s still sinking in . . . it honestly was like a dream, and the transition to it becoming reality is completely overwhelming,” beams Garmulewicz.
She was inspired to apply for the scholarship after a trip to Oxford caused her to fall in love with the university. After being selected by the Carleton nomination committee, her application was sent to British Columbia, her home province, where she was shortlisted for an interview. She found out later that evening she had been chosen.
Garmulewicz will attend the University of Oxford in the fall of 2009 to pursue a Master’s of Philosophy in geography and the environment with a concentration on environmental policy. Garmulewicz, who comes from a family very dedicated to the environment, is committed to environmental issues and became passionate about climate change during an expedition to Antarctica in 2002 when she was 15.
For now Garmulewicz will focus on completing her Carleton University degree: “I really feel so lucky to have gone to Carleton over these past years – particularly in my department, directed interdisciplinary studies, which has given me the ability to design my own degree around what I am passionate about, relating various courses from different faculties.” She has created a degree combining geography, economics, history, and politics.
The Rhodes Scholarships are the best known of international scholarships and are financed and administered by the Oxford-based Rhodes Trust established under the will of Cecil Rhodes. Up to 11 of these Scholarships are awarded annually in Canada. The Scholarships are tenable for studies at the University of Oxford in England for two or three years, beginning in October 2009.
Garmulewicz thanks her family, friends, those who supported her application and the Carleton community for helping her reach this incredible achievement. “I feel so very lucky and honoured to have the opportunity to learn in such a magical and incredible environment. It will be an amazing community to be part of,” says Garmulewicz.