Child inspires mother
Young woman and Arctic College student win $5,000 scholarship
Jessica Davey-Quantick
Northern News Services
Monday, August 29, 2016
IQALUIT
Neoma Cox may have won the Qikiqtani Inuit Association's John Amagoalik Journalism Scholarship this year, but she says it's really for her daughter.
Neoma Cox of Iqaluit says she's headed back to school, thanks in part to the Qikiqtani Inuit Association's John Amagoalik Journalism Scholarship, to set an example for her daughter, Brianna, 2. - photo courtesy of Neoma Cox |
"I really want to set a good example for her because I don't want her to think that after she's done high school she can just get any job that she wants. She needs a proper education to get a good paying job where she can be happy and something that she really loves," said Cox, of her two-year-old daughter, Brianna.
She says Brianna was her inspiration to go back to school after becoming a mother when she was 19.
"I don't want to be that, I guess, stereotype, where once you have a kid ... you can't, it's too hard to do, to go back to school. No - I push harder because she's my inspiration. I push harder for her, because I want her to get the best of everything in life. Going to school and getting the better job that I enjoy would be a good example for her."
The $5,000 scholarship will help Cox continue her education. Already a graduate of the Nunavut Sivuniksavut program, she has also just completed a two-year office administration diploma at Nunavut Arctic College.
Cox plans to attend Arctic College's environmental technology program. She says the scholarship will go towards helping cover the costs of tuition, books and daycare for her daughter.
"I really wanted financial stability, because it is hard being a student. Daycare is something I really want to get taken care of," she said. "That's an important part because my daughter needs to be somewhere while I'm trying to better my education so that I can provide a better future for her. I don't want her to ever have to worry."
The scholarship honours John Amagoalik, who was instrumental in negotiating the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, and is awarded annually to a beneficiary student enrolled in a journalism program or a program that advances Inuit language or culture.
Growing up in Iqaluit, Cox has strong memories of being on the land with her father, and while she isn't fluent in Inuktitut, she hopes her daughter will be. She hopes to use her education to help make a difference to maintaining the land, animals and people she loves.
 | Wants to stay in Nunavut. | 
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"The biggest thing for me is caribou, because I remember seeing that all of the time as a kid going out hunting or going out boating. We could always see them. And I cannot tell you the last time that I've ever seen a live caribou up close like how it was when I was a kid," said Cox. "And I think that's important because, for my daughter, I want her to know her Inuit culture. I want her to experience every aspect of it, because it is important. It is important to know where you come from."
She doesn't have a set career in mind after graduation but she does want to stay in Nunavut.
"I'm pretty much open to anything. I love learning new things. I just want to do something to really help better Nunavut," she said. "And I want my daughter to grow up where I grew up."
That said, she can see herself working in resource development and management, or fish and wildlife conservation. Part of that conservation, for Cox, is making sure Inuit voices are heard in the territory in decision making, especially around resource extraction industries, like mining.
"I know that people really want their voices heard too, and I want to be I guess a voice for people to be able to feel like their home is protected, that they do not ever have to worry about something happening with their home or their animals," she said. "I'm really hoping that once I am done that I can actually be part of a team that will help better everything, sustain it and keep it."
