Commerce student Danica Garner has received the Frank H. Sobey Award for Excellence in Business Studies worth $25,000. The award helps develop future business leaders and business programs in Atlantic Canadian universities.

“Danica exudes competence, sheer energy, and enthusiasm. She has tremendous leadership talent and I can see her one day being a serial entrepreneur,” says Sandy MacIver, director of the Ron Joyce Centre for Business Studies at Mount Allison.

Garner, who is also doing a degree in philosophy, politics, & economics (PPE), had convinced herself that she probably had not won the award.

“I was out for lunch with my mother chatting about it and I accepted that day that it was not to be. Then we went home and I was sitting at the entrance of my house with my dog, checked my e-mail, and there it was. It was that much more exciting because I was sure I hadn’t got it,” she says.

This is not the first award Garner has received while at Mount Allison. She was recognized as having the top GPA in Commerce in her second year and recently received the Reg Miller Award in Management, awarded to the Commerce student who has shown overall excellence, especially in management.

Garner, from Montreal, came to Mount Allison to study Commerce but became interested in philosophy after taking a course in first year.

“With the elections in 2015 I became extremely interested in politics, and wanted to pursue that as well. I spoke to an advisor who suggested the second degree in PPE. So I just did it,” says Garner.

Doing two degrees at Mount Allison keeps Garner busy, but she still finds time to use her leadership skills as an executive on the Commerce Society. She was also chosen as one of the 2016 L.R. Wilson Interns in Public Service and Public Policy at Mount Allison. Next year she will take on a new role as vice-president external for the Mount Allison Students’ Union (MASU). The VP external does advocacy work, representing the university to the provincial government through the New Brunswick Student Alliance, and the federal government through the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA).

As well as being appreciative of the scholarship, Garner is also enthusiastic about Commerce at Mount Allison.

“I have really got to know my professors, especially Dr. Mullen and Dr. Holton. The support they have given me is why I came to Mount A,” she says. “I found it in Commerce and in all my programs here. They have gone out of their way for me. They are always willing to help.”

Garner has many plans for when she graduates including using part of the scholarship to study abroad.

Two other Mount Allison Commerce students also received awards. Isaac Gazendam and Tanner Wilson each received $1,000 in recognition of being top business students in Atlantic Canada.