A thousand dollars for education proves priceless for single mother

July 14, 2003

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Port Coquitlam resident Paula Kozak jumped up and down when she heard the news: she was going to receive the $1,000 Minerva Foundation Bursary for B.C. Women, sponsored by the Vancouver-based foundation. "I was ecstatic. A thousand dollars. How can you not be ecstatic?" says Kozak, a single mother who is studying science at Douglas College.

The Minerva Foundation donates $2,500 a year and the Douglas College Foundation matches the money, creating five $1,000 bursaries a year aimed at improving the lives of women at Douglas College, specifically the lives of single mothers, mature female students, women studying in non-traditional areas, women with disabilities, First Nations and immigrant women."Single mothers face so many challenges trying to get an education," says Myrna Popove, the Executive Director of the Douglas College Foundation. "A bursary like this means so much more than a thousand dollars. It means their dreams are possible. The Minerva Foundation is having a very real impact on the lives of our students."As a single mother and a student, Kozak is constantly juggling mounting expenses and a limited cash flow provided by student loans. Sometimes it seems the money just slips through her fingers. "I just found out that both my boys need glasses. My oldest is asthmatic and the medicine is expensive. Money just seems to go. And then they grow. One day he's wearing a size two and the next he's a size four."Kozak works four hours a week during the fall and winter in the College's biology lab, but taking on other work is impossible. "I don't work because I can't," says Kozak. "You have to cook and clean and help your kids with their homework. And then you have to do your own homework, and there's a lot of it. There's no time to work."Kozak had no choice but to go back to school. An extreme allergy to cats forced her to quit her job at a veterinary hospital. "I loved my job, but I became so allergic, I was sick all of the time. I was carrying around an Epi-Pen. The last day I went to work, I ended up in the hospital."

Now, Kozak is studying science at Douglas College. After getting her Associate Degree, she plans on taking advantage of the university transfer option at Douglas College which lets her go into third year at SFU to work towards her Bachelor of Science. She plans on studying molecular biology, with a focus on either genetics or forensics, and aims to eventually get her Master's and a PhD."I want to do something I'll enjoy and be happy with. My kids see me going to school and my oldest wants to be a scientist, just like me. My youngest wants to be an engineer and build bridges. If I can do it, my kids can do anything," says Kozak.

Her sons are at the age when they want to do things like play soccer, take swimming lessons and learn karate. Student loans only go so far.

"When you get a bursary, it's like a gift from God," says Kozak.

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