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KINGSTON, ONT
A big bump in the bank account of Nunavummiut university student Adam Lightstone made going back to school this January a very happy new year.

Adam Lightstone is one of six scholarship recipients from NorthwesTel this year worth $4,000. - photo courtesy of Adam Lightstone

"I'm really grateful," said Lightstone about winning one of NorthwesTel's six $4,000 Northern Futures Scholarships. "It will definitely came in handy."

Three years of studying accounting has taken its financial toll, said Lightstone, and this money will help make ends meet until he wraps up his bachelor of business administration degree through Laurentian University at St. Lawrence College in Kingston, Ont. in April 2014.

Born in Rankin Inlet, Lightstone said his upbringing was "a combination of two worlds." He moved to Kingston at age five, then returned to Iqaluit where he finished high school. He returns every Christmas and summer. Lightstone said he was bartending at the Storehouse in Iqaluit when he decided he would return to school.

"I knew I didn't want to do it forever," he said. "I think every student should go to a post-secondary institution. High school only gets you so far."

Numbers, he said, always came naturally to him. Now, in addition to money, the significant scholarship gives him first dibs on entry-level employment opportunities in his chosen field with NorthwesTel.

The math adds up for the student who says he tries to convince others to take advantage of such opportunities as well as post-secondary education.

"I think the most important piece of advice I can say is for people in high school to utilize the specific individual who helps plan and organize careers. I think they're under-utilized," he said.

Lightstone currently works two part-time jobs in addition to attending school and is involved in the college's Investment Club, Toastmasters and volunteers at the Kingston Humane Society. He believes "an education is never completed, just added to."

Each year, NorthwesTel puts the call out for the North's highest student achievers, awarding six students a total of $24,000 for outstanding work based on academic achievement, extracurricular and community participation, leadership activities and relevance of their studies to NorthwesTel operations.

Since the program began in 2002, more than 100 scholarships and $260,000 have been awarded.

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