Governor-General David Johnston (centre) with Jesse Carmichael (at his left) and the other recipients of the 2014 Futures Fund Scholarship for Exemplary Leadership.
Jesse Carmichael
I really had no idea what to expect when I filled out my application for the Futures Fund Scholarship in November. The award is based on academic grades, extracurricular involvement and leadership initiatives. I outlined my participation in various case competitions as well as my experience as president of the John Molson Competition Committee. Winning the scholarship came as a huge surprise.
What was even more surprising was the grandeur of the event. We were flown to Toronto in February and spent two nights being pampered by the founder and title sponsor of the scholarship, Caldwell Partners, an international executive search firm.
The Futures Fund Scholarship is given in tandem with the Outstanding CEO of the Year. This year, Don Walker, the CEO of Magna, was recognized.
The first night we arrived in Toronto, we attended the Futures Fund Cocktail Reception at the law offices of Bennett Jones, where we had the opportunity to meet high-profile business executives, like the CEOs of Bennett Jones and Caldwell Partners, as well as Mr. Don Walker himself. The award was initially supposed to be a grant of $5,500, however at the cocktail reception, Don Walker doubled our money, so each of us was awarded $11,000.
The next night, we had the pleasure of attending the 2014 CEO of the Year Gala honouring Don Walker at the Royal Ontario Museum. Over 400 top-level business executives were also in attendance and we were given the chance to meet David Johnston, the governor general of Canada, as well as Jim Balsillie, one of the founders of Blackberry. It was an incredible evening celebrating business in Canada.
Overall, it was an unbelievable experience. I am so grateful to the John Molson School of Business for providing me with the opportunity, as well as to Caldwell Partners for sponsoring the event. I truly learned a lot and it was inspirational to be surrounded by so many top-level Canadian business executives. The prestige of the event just further fuelled my fire. While I view the scholarship as recognition of my hard work, I also see it as a challenge to work even harder to exceed expectations and prove myself fully deserving of the honour.
Learn about the John Molson School of Business Case Competition program.