CN Aboriginal Awards Program 2000 Scholarship Recipient Richard Nelson

It’s the wish of most parents that their children go on to have a better life than they did. Non-status MicMac Richard Nelson, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student at Concordia University in Montreal, has taken that wish to heart.

Born in Saint John, New Brunswick, Richard has lived in Montreal since he was three years old. He’s always taken a keen interest in how machines work. When he reached CEGEP – Quebec’s pre-university education preparation school – he was torn between pursuing a career in business or science. Math was a strong subject, but he’d have to work hard at his sciences.

True to his character, Richard didn’t back down from a challenge. He chose to study mechanical engineering. "it’s all a matter of convincing yourself that you have to do it. There’s no room to back down or procrastinate," he explains.

His first year was, as Richard puts it, "a disaster." " I had a hard time adapting. The transition from CEGEP was tough. Juggling work and school was a challenge, but I got through – barely!"

At that point, Richard decided to take a year off to regroup and earn some more money, so that when he returned, he could concentrate more fully on his studies. Upon returning to school, he not only faced the stress of the university regimen, but he also had to overcome personal doubts about his abilities. Richard succeeded in both areas and since then, he hasn’t looked back.

"I’ll be the first engineer in the family," he says proudly. "I know there’ll be more challenges down the road in school and beyond, but I have lots of family support to help me out along the way."