Through TRREB’s Past President’s Scholarship awards, our Members are making a difference in the lives of secondary school students on the path to higher education. Fifty-eight deserving high school students pursuing post-secondary education have received a total of $220,000 in scholarship awards over the past 16 years.
This year, we recognized even more winners. A total of eight students took a scholarship home.
The Winners
There were two real estate-related topics to choose from to secure the winning spots. These students researched and wrote essays on the generational wealth transfer trend or the pandemic’s ripple effects on housing, the economy and employment. Read on to learn who won and how their studies and career goals can have an impact on the future of our industry.
First-place winners are Deborah Ojo and Ryan Tan, who are both looking to translate their post-secondary skills into their interest for real estate.
Deborah Ojo’s essay took a unique approach comparing the pandemic and population growth in Halton Region. She heads off to the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business to study commerce. One day, Deborah wishes to pursue a career in journalism or marketing.
In the fall, Ryan Tan will join Western University’s DAN Management Program with an AEO status. In Ryan’s essay, he covered what generational wealth transfer is and what this means for housing demand. For his career journey, he is interested in working in the marketing or finance fields.
Dream Tuitt-Barnes and Jonathan Sekyewa are the second-place winners.
Dream chose the generational wealth transfer topic for her essay. As an aspiring plastic surgeon, Dream is attending Queens University for the Honours Health Sciences with Queens University Accelerated Route to Medicine Program. As a future property buyer for her practice, her chosen study may help create opportunities to expand and grow the GTA’s commercial sector.
Jonathan’s essay covered three key reasons people left the city during the onset of the pandemic. Jonathan is en route to the University of Waterloo for the Sustainability and Financial Management program. This will help Jonathan rethink today’s environmental issues and how we can create greener communities.
Our first-ever third-place winners are Darrah Tan and Tivona Mwangi.
Darrah is not only an aspiring homeowner, but will pursue the Life Sciences program at McMaster University with a career goal in the healthcare field. Darah’s essay covered remote work and how this opened opportunities for housing outside of the GTA.
Tivona is off to the University of Ottawa for Health Sciences. As a future healthcare practitioner, she wants to provide optimal care for all people and help address the social determinants of health. She also has a passion for advancing policies that combat housing insecurity. In Tivona’s essay, she shared how inheritances are supporting home purchases for first-time buyers.
The newly added fourth-place award winners are Mahak Mishra and Zufishan (Amber) Siddiqui.
Mahak plans to study computer science at the University of Toronto. She aspires to work in the computer science industry and promote gender equality and female participation in the STEM field. Her choice of studies can have an impact on where technology is headed in the real estate industry. Mahak wrote her essay about the shift in both the commercial and residential markets caused by the pandemic.
Zufishan will soon join McMaster University’s Social Sciences program to major in political science. Her essay points to the transfer of wealth from parents to their children and how it accelerates demand, but also impacts affordability. She plans to pursue a career in public policy to make meaningful changes for future home buyers and sellers.
Congratulations to our 2022 Past President’s Scholarship winners!
Learn more about TRREB’s Past President’s Scholarship, including more about the winners and when to look out for the 2023 scholarship application.