29 July 2005

Scholarship winner
heading off to grad school

July 2005 has been a banner month for Kalli Lahtinen, winner of the draw for the $1,000 TNG Canada/CWA scholarship.

"It's a nice surprise and a big help," says the 25-year-old, who's entering her sixth year at the University of Ottawa. "It's a bonus."

Kalli, who taught English for 10 months at a private kindergarten in Finland, recently returned home to discover she had been selected for admission to grad school, which had only 15 openings. With a Bachelors of Education honours degree under her belt, she is now going back for her Masters in educational counselling.

Her father, Martti Lahtinen, a copy editor at The Ottawa Citizen who has worked on the sports desk for 18 years, was "shell-shocked" when he heard about the scholarship. "If there's some dough coming this way, it's going to be welcome."

Kalli still lives at home in Chelsea, Que., with an older sister and younger brother. She says she recently purchased a second-hand car so the scholarship money will help with some financial burdens as she heads into an intensive two-year program.