Because of You - Donor Report 2011

The Nickie Do Scholarship
Active Students Giving Back

Instructors usually reward their outstanding students with good marks and a pat on the back for a job well done. Nickie Do, a recent SAIT grad, got a little more than that. Her instructor in the Pre-hospital Care Program started a scholarship in her name.

Back in 2007, Nickie was a student in SAIT’s Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) program, humbled by how much she had to learn, but eager to get on with it. By the time she started the Paramedic program the following year, she knew exactly what she had to do.

She wanted to start a mentorship program to bridge the gap between students in the EMT program, and their more experienced, better-dressed Paramedic counterparts.

“As EMTs we were never brave enough to approach a Paramedic student and ask questions or get advice,” said Nickie. “They would never talk to you and you wouldn't dare talk to them.” That’s just how it was.

But that just wasn't good enough for Nickie. She had had so many questions as an EMT: about skills, about practicum, about everything. A peer mentorship program was for her, an obvious solution.

So after getting enthusiastic approval from the Academic Chair, Nickie set about recruiting, and then pairing up willing first- and second-year Paramedic student mentors with eager EMT colleagues in what would be a highly successful, 100% volunteer, student-run mentorship program.

The program represented tremendous opportunity for giving back (paying it forward), and the students weren't the only ones paying attention.

Gary Weselosky, a veteran instructor in the Prehospital Care Program at SAIT’s School of Health and Public Safety and SAIT alumnus, was thinking about his son, who had just graduated from SAIT as a Journeyman Electrician.

“He got a good education here and I'm thankful and was looking for some way to give back,” said Gary.

So he decided to set up a scholarship for second-year Paramedic students involved in the mentorship program that Nickie had started. The decision to name that scholarship after his former student was automatic.

“There’s just something special about her,” says Gary. “She’s a very strong practitioner with good listening skills, a really nice, caring personality and a lot of energy. She’s the type of person I'd want to look after me or my family if any of us were sick.”

Gary is set to retire from SAIT soon and he says, some day, he hopes to join with his son to set up another scholarship for Electrician Apprentice students.