Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

NNSL (May 26/99) - Western Arctic MP, Ethel Blondin was in Yellowknife last Friday to present the Royal Bank Native Student Award to local man Olin Lovely, a financial analyst with GNWT and a prospective business administration student.

Lovely was one of five native students selected across Canada, and the first recipient from the Northwest Territories to receive the award since the program was established in 1992.

"I think Olin is a star," said Blondin-Andrew after presenting the award at her Yellowknife constituency office. "I think it is just wonderful. This is an absolute accomplishment for Northerners."

"I think with this award, Olin is well on the way to greater things," she added. "I hope more Northerners take advantage of this program."

According to Doug Nelson, manager for the Yellowknife Royal Bank, Lovely was only one out of five applicants across Canada to receive the award this year.

"There were 142 applications made for the award during the 1999/2000 post-secondary semester," said Nelson. "Only four of them from the Northwest Territories."

Lovely will be eligible for a Royal Bank sponsored student grant for up to $4,000 a year for four years. All status and non-status Indians, Inuit and Metis are eligible to apply for a Royal Bank Native Student Award as long as one is seeking a degree, certificate, or diploma in the banking industry from a recognized Canadian post-secondary institution. Criteria for the award also include community involvement, academic performance and financial need.

For Olin Lovely, this award will go a long way in helping him finish a master's degree in business administration at the University of Calgary, where he will be attending this fall.

"I feel very honoured," said Lovely, a 28-year-old lifelong Northerner. "I applied for it right at the deadline (end of January), so I was not really expecting to get it. It's quite a thrill."

Lovely has completed a four-year degree program in political science at the University of Alberta before taking a job in financial management with GNWT. It was while working with the GNWT that he found out about the Native Student award program.

"I found out about it on the Internet while looking in the federal listings," said Lovely.

When asked about any possible plans he might have after completing his master's degree in business administration, Lovely was still uncertain of what the future has in store for him.

"I hope to be an entrepreneur and have my own business some day I guess," Lovely said. "Let it come to me -- I haven't exactly decided what to do yet."