Article content As the oldest of five children raised by a single mother, former East Elgin high school student Johan Thiessen never dreamed he would make it to university. “I thought it was for smart, rich kids,” said Thiessen. Recommended Videos But the 25-year-old defied the odds and went on to become a scientist and researcher at a British Columbia biotech company.
Growing up in subsidized housing in Aylmer, life, he said, was “a rough situation.” “There were cockroaches and fleas,” he said. “I spent quite a few years out of school due to a lot of affordability issues.” At age 12, Thiessen started working in nearby farmers’ fields. By 15, he was working long hours in the same factory as his mother, including after school.
“I would work from 4 to 10 p.m. I would try to do a little homework late at night and then get up early to help get my sisters ready for school,” he said. With his mother working the night shift, he and his brother took their three younger sisters to school.
“That was a lot of my high school,” he said. “I gave all that money to my mom to help financially.” While Thiessen believed he would never make it to post-secondary education, his East Elgin teachers thought differently. “My marks were honestly not very good; I got on the honour roll, but just barely,” he said.
“But I tried really hard, and I had some really great teachers along the way and through university. “I had mentors who believed in me and saw I was a good kid who struggled a bit.” Despite barely being able to afford the application fee, Thiessen applied to university. “Some teachers really pushed that I continue my education,” he said.
“I had no clue how I was going to pay my way through school.” Then he learned about the Phil McNamee Charitable Foundation, which offered a $20,000 scholarship over four years. It is the largest scholarship administered by the Thames Valley Education Foundation. “I ended up winning the scholarship and it really changed my life,” Thiessen said.
“It really opened up the wings to fly, I like to say, because from there I really tried hard in school and did really, really well.” That scholarship gave him the confidence he needed to apply for others to help fund his education. To date, he has received $200,000 in scholarships from various organizations. Thiessen was recently the keynote speaker at the Thames Valley Education Foundation’s 25th-anniversary celebration.
The foundation provides emergency funds to Thames Valley District school board students whose families are facing a financial crisis, such as losing their home in a fire or not being able to put food on the table. It also administers more than 650 awards and scholarships and has granted more than $11.3 million since it was established in 2001. After graduating from Western University’s kinesiology program, Thiessen went on to earn a master’s degree from the University of Guelph.
Thiessen now sits on the board of the Phil McNamee Charitable Foundation. “Now I get to choose the next high school student (to get a scholarship),” he said. “Some of the stories are really moving.
“Some of them are living in tents while trying to make it through high school.”
