DeGroote student wins prestigious Futures Fund scholarship

The cliché “hard work pays off” rang true for Jackson Virgin-Holland when he became $7,500 richer earlier this term.

Virgin-Holland, 19, is a second-year Commerce student and one of 10 business students in Canada awarded the Futures Fund scholarship at Canada’s Outstanding CEO of the Year gala in Toronto.

The board of the initiative selects 10 new schools every summer to receive the scholarship. Full-time undergraduate and graduate students are nominated by their school’s Dean’s office based on their achievements and application.

“I put my application together a few weeks before the deadline. It took me forever to get everything together,” says Virgin-Holland. “But I’m happy I invested so much time into it since it turned out so well.”

The two-day gala was held in February at First Canadian Place and the Royal Ontario Museum.

Canada’s Top Ten had the opportunity to meet one another and network with some highly influential business professionals, such as former co-CEO of Research in Motion Jim Balsillie, President and CEO of Bell Canada George Cope, Canada’s Minister of Finance Bill Morneau, Toronto Mayor John Tory, and former Dragon’s Den star and noted entrepreneur Kevin O’Leary, among other prominent figures from Samsung, Facebook, Air Canada and several banks.

“I was very intimidated, especially since I’m the youngest, but then I noticed that they all were genuinely nice, friendly people,” says Virgin-Holland. Speaking of his encounter with the former BlackBerry boss, he adds, “Balsillie said, ‘don’t follow the money, do what you like and the money will come after.'”

Virgin-Holland says that the gala was “100 per cent the best night of my life.”

The aim of the Futures Fund scholarship is to honour and mentor students that demonstrated exemplary leadership in their academic and extra-curricular activities — an award Virgin-Holland has proved himself worthy of. He plans to use the money for his future, as the award intends, by putting it toward his tuition.

For his application, Virgin-Holland included an outline of his academic achievements and a summary of his extra-curricular activities, which amounted to “thousands of hours over the years.”

This is not an exaggeration. To name only a few of his activities, Virgin-Holland was Chairman of the Hamilton Youth Advisory Council, Student Success Leader for McMaster’s Student Success Centre, Provincial Judge for DECA Ontario, and Director of Community Relations for DeGroote Commerce Society. Moreover, he is also part of the International Black History Committee that garnered attention from President Barack Obama, and he launched a not-for-profit organization focused on creating opportunities for youth. He also studies six languages.

Virgin-Holland says he manages to balance his hectic schedule by being hyper-organized, and motivates himself by drawing on his family history.

“I have dozens and dozens of notes and calendars. I write my daily goals that must be completed [to] help me balance my short-term goals while keeping my long-term goals in focus,” he says.

Virgin-Hollands elaborates that his motivation comes from his mother, a single parent, and his overall family history. Three generations before, Thomas J. Holland “braved through the raging currents of the Niagara River” and “made a cross-country trek through the Underground Railroad” alone to escape slavery in the United States at the young age of 15.

Some years later, his son would go on to become Canada’s first African Citizen of the Year, and the namesake behind the Rev. John C. Holland Awards.

“I’m inspired by my family’s history. [Thomas’] courage and fortitude at such an early age push me to make the most of my life,” he says. “I realize the importance of fighting discrimination and promoting civic engagement. This is what keeps me motivated.”

When asked what he is most proud of, Virgin-Holland says that though it sounds cliché, it is his overall happiness.

“It can be difficult to find what makes you happy,” he says. “My advice is to keep exploring your environment and explore within yourself, keep moving outside of your comfort zone. I’ve found my happiness by working hard and always paying it forward.”