The Continental Society expands its bursary programmeBy Nadia ArandjelovicKe-Anne Adcock-Smith led a challenging life as a youngster, but believes she got through those hardships thanks to comfort provided by animals in her life.The 18 year old is now looking forward to starting a university degree in veterinary medicine and was recently awarded a $4,000 bursary from the Continental Society of Bermuda.She said: “It really helps significantly because I don’t have anyone to support me. it’s just me.“I am ultimately hoping to go to university off a complete scholarship and this helps me get one step closer.”Although studying veterinarian medicine is expensive, she said she has always had a passion for animals.She lost her mother at a young age and went to live with her grandmother, until her grandmother also got sick and she was moved into Brangman Home.She told The Royal Gazette: “Through my hardship I have always had an animal there. It’s like you can talk to an animal easily because they won’t talk back to you and fortunately most of them listen.“Ever since I was five, I brought home everything from frogs, cats, dogs and birds and I still bring them home to this day.”She said many of her animals were her best friends as a youngster. One dog in particular named Dot was very protective and would growl if ever anyone got too close to Ms Adcock-Smith’s space.She said: “I wasn’t a popular child and never had too many human friends and went through school completely unnoticed.“With animals we had a mutual understanding and it always worked,” she explained.The Continental Society awards its bursary to a young person under 23, with a GPA between 2.5 and 3.5, who also shows financial need.Its members have been giving out a bursary for more than a decade, but this year finding a recipient proved to be a daunting task due to more than 95 people applying.Denise Kelly, who serves as Public Relations representative for the organisation, said: “Usually we only receive at most 30 applications.This is why we voted that in addition to awarding our usual $4,000, we would give out an extra three $500 bursaries to those who are ‘runners up’.“This is not something we normally do, but due to the higher volume of applicants and the way the economy is going we decided to assist a few more students.”Olievia Martins, Tsehai Tear and Dantel McGowan were chosen as the winners of the $500 cash boost.Ms Kelly said they were all deserving of support, particularly the overall winner Ms Adcock-Smith who managed to overcome challenges to maintain a GPA over 3.0 and was named deputy head girl in her last year at CedarBridge Academy.Ms Martins, 17, is aspiring to become a plastic and reconstructive surgeon because of her love for science.She said: “The award means a lot because I am raised by a single father and I am going to pursue medicine, which is a costly field to go into. Being given this award really means a lot to me and I appreciate it very much.”Twenty-one-year-old, Ms Tear wants to become a social worker and better the local community.The University of Kent student said: “I am passionate about helping others and seeing a change and making a difference, especially in today’s world.“When I was in high school I used to work at a nursery and saw children come to school without packed lunches and some would have roaches in their bags, so I felt I personally needed to help others make a change.”Ms McGowan is looking forward to continuing her studies in human nutrition at London Metropolitan University.She said the award was very important “because only my mom supports me and that puts a lot of strain on her seeing that I have two older sisters”.The 21-year-old is looking forward to combating problems like obesity and diabetes so that local residents can lead healthier lives.Overall winner Ms Adcock-Smith is still hoping additional scholarship opportunities will come through before she heads off to school in the autumn.She said: “I have covered almost half of what I need, but it’s not completely done yet.”Contact nadia@royalgazette.com for more details on how you can help Ms Adcock-Smith get to university.