Malaspina student wins $17,000 fellowship

The future looks bright for Malaspina University-College student Melissa Bachynski.

Bachynski, who graduates from Malaspina this semester with a BA in English, has been awarded a $17,000 fellowship to Dalhousie University in Halifax.

“I was in utter disbelief when the letter came,” said Bachynski. “I had to read it again and again. It wasn’t until my husband read it out loud to me that I realized I had really received the award. I am incredibly honoured and surprised.”

Bachynski will also receive a teaching assistant position at Dalhousie, while she takes her post-graduate courses towards a masters in English and an eventual PhD.

An avid reader, with favourite authors like Dante, Plato and Shakespeare, Bachynski is an incredibly advanced English student, but that wasn’t always the case. While at the University of Winnipeg, she dropped out of the English program and moved into philosophy. When she came to Malaspina, she intended to enrol in the education program, but Malaspina’s English professors changed her mind.

“The English department here is amazing. After my first semester, I wrote a letter to the Malaspina president telling him that Malaspina’s English department should be held up as the example every school should model after. I didn’t come to Malaspina with great skills. I was simply taught amazingly well.”

While Bachynski credits much of her current success to the teachers at Malaspina, her professors point out that she is an incredibly gifted and passionate student.

“She is an outstanding student,” said Katharina Rout, a professor in the English department and one of Bachynski’s instructors. “Her level of excellence goes way beyond what you usually expect from an undergraduate student.”

Rout also points out that Bachynski’s excellence extends beyond her grades.

“She is extraordinarily supportive of her classmates and goes out of her way to encourage other students’ work. She gets everyone around her passionate about learning.”

In one particular instance, Bachynski was asked to put together a ten minute oral presentation in class, but was allowed to expand her report to forty-five minutes because it was so well done. Rout said she taught the class like an experienced teacher, which is a good sign because Bachinski hopes to return to the West Coast as an English professor.

“I want to get my PhD and teach at a university level because teaching is my passion,” said Bachynski. “My ultimate dream is to return to Malaspina and live and work in this community.”

While Bachynski is excited about what lies ahead, she said she’ll always remember her great experiences on the Nanaimo campus.

“I have really enjoyed myself at Malaspina because I have been encouraged to reach further than I ever thought I could. I won’t forget that.”

Bachynski graduates from Malaspina University-College in June and begins her post-graduate classes at Dalhousie in September.