Business student wins prestigious Sobey scholarship

2015 JIV1875

A Memorial business student has won a $15,000 scholarship aimed at the top business students in Atlantic Canada.

Kayla Snow, 22, is one of 10 recipients of the Frank H. Sobey Award for Excellence in Business Studies. Ms. Snow is in her final year of the bachelor of commerce (co-operative) program.

“Honestly, when I got the email, I was kind of overwhelmed and shocked. I was a little bit in disbelief,” she said. “I know the competition is really intense and there are a lot of people that go through the process. It’s pretty exciting.”

Ms. Snow intends to pursue the chartered professional accountant (CPA) designation and will work at the firm of Noseworthy Chapman Chartered Accountants following graduation this spring.

The Bay Roberts native has completed work terms at Deloitte LLP and Imperial Oil Limited in a variety of accounting-related fields such as audits and project accounting. The diversity of careers available as a CPA is what has drawn her to the field.

“I started off knowing that I was interested in math so I just started exploring different areas that I could get into,” she said. “With the CPA program, I felt that if I wasn’t interested in one particular thing, you’re not restricted. You have options to do other things and find out what you’re really interested in.”

Ms. Snow has been on the Dean’s List at the Faculty of Business Administration for the past four years and has received a variety of awards, bursaries and scholarships from the business faculty as well as from private donors.

All full-time business students attending Atlantic Canadian universities are eligible for the Sobey awards, which have been supporting business students for the past 25 years. Students are nominated by business school deans based on academic standing, entrepreneurial interest, extracurricular and community activities, employment history and career aspirations.

“[The Sobey award] helps me just by being really able to focus on school now, especially this last year. It’s been pretty stressful because the course load is a lot tougher, getting into all the advanced accounting courses, so I’m really glad that I don’t have to worry about the financial aspect,” said Ms. Snow.