Top nursing students receive scholarships

Seven nursing students from Nunavut Arctic College have been awarded scholarships from the college and the Department of Health.

“Your presence will make a difference in people’s lives at a time when they are in desperate need and feeling vulnerable,” Margaret Nakashuk, the minister responsible for Nunavut Arctic College, told the recipients of the Savanna Pikuyak and Queen Elizabeth II scholarships Tuesday.

About 20 people attended the ceremony at the Frobisher Inn in Iqaluit, including three of the recipients, their parents, instructors and government officials.

“I’m deeply honoured to receive the scholarship. It just shows the incredible work that me and all the other nursing students are putting in to reach this level,” said Evora Essoh, a fourth-year nursing student and recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Scholarship, in an interview after the ceremony.

Pre-health studies student Malaiyah Nakoolak, in the middle, poses with Nunavut Arctic College president Jackie Price, left, and Margaret Nakashuk, the minister responsible for Nunavut Arctic College, after receiving the Savanna Pikuyak Scholarship on Tuesday. (Photo by Arty Sarkisian)

Essoh, along with other Queen Elizabeth II Scholarship recipients Adam Tatty, Dianne Caguioa, Jade Anawak, Juliet Egeni and Jane Mansbridge, will receive $3,000 to support their studies at the college.

“We are really short-staffed,” Essoh said of the number of nurses Nunavut needs, adding the scholarship will be a big help to assist with her education costs.

Also Tuesday, the $5,000 Savanna Pikuyak Scholarship was presented to pre-health studies student Malaiyah Nakoolak. It’s the third time the scholarship has been awarded, since the inaugural ceremony in 2022.

The scholarship was created in memory of 22-year-old Savanna Pikuyak, a nursing student who died shortly after moving from Sanirajak to study at Algonquin College in Ottawa in 2022. In December, a 35-year-old Ottawa man was found guilty of first-degree murder in her death.

Pikuyak’s parents Sheba Pikuyak and David Angu Akearok planned to be in Iqaluit for the scholarship presentation but their flight was cancelled, said Rebecca Lonsdale, a nurse who acted as master of ceremonies.

“She was determined to become a helper,” Lonsdale said of Pikuyak.

“I want you to remember Savanna for the choices that she made out of the goodness of her heart.”