News Article

College of the North Atlantic (CNA) has announced the winners of the 2011 Summer Crew contest.

Kelsey Maidment of Lower Island Cove couldn’t have been happier with the news that she won a year’s free tuition. While she’s always excelled at school, maintaining a 90 average, her plans for a post-secondary education presented a problem.

“My mother lost her eyesight a couple of years ago and she’s on disability,” explains Maidment. “(My family) supports me in my studies but they can’t really support me financially.”

Her financial situation was also the reason she applied to CNA’s Comprehensive Arts and Science (CAS) Transfer: College-University program at the nearby Carbonear campus. She was trying to reduce the burden of the student loan she would carry after college.

“I was taking that program to save some money,” she says. “Instead of doing my first year of university in St. John’s I’d stay home and I wouldn’t have to spend so much. I could go back and forth to school every day and I wouldn’t need an apartment and tuition was cheaper.”

The CAS Transfer program provides students with a number of credits which can be applied to further studies at CNA or a degree at Memorial University (MUN).

“I heard it was a great transition from high school into university,” says Maidment. “I think that’s the best way to do it because it gives you more time to adjust to the difference between high school and post-secondary.”

After completing the program at CNA Maidment wants to apply to the School of Pharmacy at MUN. She says her mother was as excited as she was to find out that her first year of college will be tuition free.

“It really means a lot to me and it means a lot to her too – I called her and told her that I won it and she was so happy – she was relieved that I wouldn’t have such a big student loan to pay back.”

Now, Maidment is headed into her first year of college without the burden of paying for her tuition.
“I’m looking forward to a new experience and meeting new people. I liked high school but it’s six years of the same people. Now it’s new people from different places.”

Maidment will also receive a $150 gift certificate for CNA’s E-Store.

Four runners up were also chosen in the Summer Crew contest. Rachelle House of St. John’s and Stacey Cadet of Port Aux Choix will each receive a $100 gift certificate for the CNA E-Store, while Gerard Murphy of St. John’s and Ryan Murphy of Harbour Main will each receive a $75 gift certificate for CNA’s E-Store.

(For more information on CNA’s Comprehensive Arts and Science programs visit  our website or drop by our Facebook page.)

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Media Contact:
Gina MacArthur
Public Relations Specialist
College of the North Atlantic
Ph: 709-643-7928
gina.macarthur@cna.nl.ca