Thunder Bay students receive scholarships from retirees’ organization

Kyler Hakala of Thunder Bay and Natalie Parker of Shuniah have each received a $3000 scholarship from the Municipal Retirees Organization Ontario (MROO).

The students are both in their second year of biomedical mechanical engineering at the University of Ottawa.

The MROO is made up of retirees from the Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System (OMERS), representing tens of thousands of retirees across the province.

The organization runs a scholarship program for families of MROO members, which this year granted $123,000 to 40 post-secondary students.

“When I learned that I had received a scholarship, I was extremely excited, and honestly a bit in disbelief at first,” says Natalie Parker. “It felt really rewarding to see my hard work recognized, and I’m honestly really grateful.”

Parker says her grandmother, a member of MROO, encouraged her to apply for the scholarship.

Parker went to UOttawa because Lakehead doesn’t offer a program in biomedical mechanical engineering. With Ottawa’s higher cost of living, the scholarship is a big help.

Kyler Hakala, meanwhile, feels that the scholarship provides him a chance to focus on his academics, preventing the need to take on a part-time job.

“It’s made me even more motivated to continue making a positive impact in my field,” Hakala explains.

Hakala’s father is an OMERS pensioner.

In addition to being related to MROO members, interested students have to apply for the scholarships, submitting resumes and letters advocating for themselves.

The MROO chooses its scholarship winners based on what the students do in their communities, and the work they intend to do via their studies, explains Lori Kivi, who works as the director of the MROO’s Zone 8 (District of Thunder Bay).

“We’re very proud to do this for these students,” Kivi says. “It goes on every year, and it’s great that each year some Thunder Bay and district students are awarded these scholarships.”

Parker has previously voluntereed as a soccer coach and with the Canadian Bird Banding Association.

Hakala has volunteered with a Northern Ontario School of Medicine summer camp, UOttawa’s Engineering Student’s Society, and an organization called the Centre of Engineering and Entrepreneurial Design.

Hakala says he volunteers so he can get to know others, saying he meets “tons of different people, and their outlooks on everything are always different. It’s really interesting to be able to interact with others like that, just to really open your eyes on different ways of approaching things.”

As students of biomedical mechanical engineering, both Parker and Hakala are preparing to work in fields that will allow them to continue giving back to their communities.

Parker says she hopes to work in developing artifical organs. She enjoys being in a program that lets her interact with the fields of both medicine and engineering.

Hakala’s main focus is on developing prosthetics. He wants to help improve the comfort and mobility of patients as they age.

The MROO’s student scholarship program began in 2006, and has since expanded to provide larger sums and a wider range of scholarships for students.