Myers connects students with opportunities
Published:Friday | December 6, 2019 | 12:11 AMVanessa James/Gleaner Writer
Monique Myers, a Jamaican who now resides in Canada, is still making contributions to her homeland and, to some extent, the Caribbean. As the owner and director of CanStudy Consulting, she has been assisting students with studying abroad with the option to return home and contribute to nation-building.
To ensure that CanStudy works, Myers tested it on herself after going through the process of applying and successfully getting into college before bringing the idea to others. She realised that there was a specific need and decided to tap into that.
“I realised that students don’t really have a clear path, there’s not one agency that they can go to and get everything done, so I said, ‘You know what? I’m going back [to Jamaica], and I am going to be that person to hold their hands and assist them in getting everything done’,” Myers explained.
She first started CanStudy Express in Jamaica before launching CanStudy Consulting in Canada in 2019.
“I came here for school, and I saw a need, so I went back, and I used to help students for free from about 2013 until 2018, and during that time, I was helping only Jamaican students,” she said. “After that, I had people reaching out to me from all over – Barbados, Trinidad, Nigeria, Ghana. People from the UK saw what I was doing with the Jamaican students, and they reached out to me, and that’s when I thought I would start a Canadian company so I can extend my services to people from all over the world.”
Myers is proud to say that she has assisted approximately 120 students by holding their hands and being by their sides throughout the process.
She described the steps taken to The Gleaner:
“First of all, we have consultations where we find out what their passion is and what their academic credentials are so that we can see if this person could benefit from a scholarship.
“Once we garner this information, we do a Canada-wide search into all the colleges and universities that are here and see which one would be most appropriate for them. We present them with these options, and when they select the school they want to apply for, we do the applications, and if they qualify for a scholarship, we assist them to apply for it,” said Myers.
OFFERINGS
CanStudy extends its services to reviewing application, editing essays, and going the extra mile to ensure that the process is smooth for students. The services offered at CanStudy Consulting include helping beneficiaries with visa applications, and once successful, applicants are assisted with finding jobs and, a place to live. According to Myers, “We also equip them with necessary resources that are essential to the smooth transition in the Canadian society.”
Recruitment is done through Myers and her team visiting schools and telling students about the services of CanStudy Consulting and how they can benefit. She told The Gleaner that during these recruitment exercises, she has met a number of students who could benefit from an opportunity such as this one, but there is the issue of affordability. As such, the CanStudy team has launched a GoFundMe account ( gofundme.com/canstudy-scholarship), from which donations will go towards further assisting students.
Myers explained that there is also a space for those who wish to pursue a master’s degree as both her mother and brother have benefited from this programme.
She said that interested individuals only need to visit the website at canstudyconsult.com to receive personalised assistance.