Bianca Marryshow knows the difference a gift can make
Bianca Marryshow, TMU manager of Student Financial Assistance, talks about her experience receiving financial assistance as a student and paying it forward with the fund now named after her mother.
Nov. 29 is Giving Tuesday – when, after the consumer frenzy of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, we are asked to give thought to philanthropy. Warning: your inbox is going to be full!
This year, the face of TMU’s Giving Tuesday appeal is Bianca Marryshow (Sociology ’17), the manager of student financial assistance. In her role, she sees firsthand how a scholarship or award “can be the very thing that makes attending university possible for many students.”
TMU has one of the highest participation rates in the province in the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP). So donor support for student awards can make a real difference.
“I received a university entrance scholarship,” recalls Marryshow, “and, later, an award for fostering community in my program. The support took a weight from my shoulders. Up to that time, most of the choices I made and chances I had (or didn’t have) were related to access to funds. Receiving awards let me take on new opportunities. I was able to become more involved in university life and really take part in the university community.”
When Marryshow crossed the stage at convocation in the summer of 2017, she vowed that, as soon as she was in the position, she’d pay it forward. Three years later, she established the Sonia Marryshow Black Scholar Award, named in honour of her mother. The Sonia Marryshow Black Scholar Award celebrates Black women in higher education by supporting TMU students in the Faculty of Arts. Shanice Walters, a fourth-year criminology student, was the inaugural recipient of the award, and this year the award went to Shaniqua Todd, who is in her second year of Politics and Governance.
“Being the recipient,” Walters recalls, “gave me the motivation to stay focused and reassured me I was on the right path.”
On social media and in email appeals, Marryshow is encouraging alumni, faculty, staff and friends of TMU to join her this Giving Tuesday: “All it takes is just one click to spark a chain reaction. Help make a student’s dream a reality.”
If you wish to support financial assistance to students at TMU -- today, on Giving Tuesday or anytime, visit our Giving Tuesday page.