The fellowship program is a partnership between 3M Canada and the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE). The 3M National Student Fellowships honour up to ten full-time college and undergraduate university students "who have demonstrated qualities of outstanding leadership and who embrace a vision where the quality of their educational experience can be enhanced in academia and beyond."
Winners receive a $5,000 award, are invited to join other award winners at the annual STLHE conference (held in Montreal in late June) with travel and accommodation expenses paid. The winning cohort also has an opportunity for collaborative engagement with one another to create projects that "can enhance teaching and learning at the post-secondary level."
"Through Alannah’s definition of a leader, and its cyclical, ongoing process, she explained how as she began her post-secondary education; with passion and enthusiasm she wanted to be instrumental in creating change and leave her mark at the University of Waterloo," reads the fellowship citation. "She sees gaps and actively finds solutions to fill them such as organizing uWaterloo’s first-ever invocation ceremony which officially welcomed over 4,000 students to their post-secondary experience. She sees potential in others, and does everything she can to help them reach it, as demonstrated through her involvement with a conference called Action Minded People Empowered to Dream. She actively seeks opportunities to help others gain the skills they need to improve."
"Alannah has highlighted an important and common issue present on campus: segregation. She sees community as a tool to break down barriers and recognizes its essential role to a well-rounded educational experience and one that is central to her involvement at the University of Waterloo. She has been a community-builder for the last two years as Residence Life Don, where she supports the academic and personal needs of students living in residence."
Other fellowship winners were drawn from the University of Northern British Columbia, McGill University, Ryerson University, the University of Guelph, the University of Toronto, and Carleton University.