Myrna Daniels

Reigniting a sense of pride by giving instead of receiving

“Si vous n’avez pas de toit, profitez des étoiles!” – Roch Carrier

Myrna Daniels had a surprise for Dr. Hérique when they reconnected over lunch. With a twinkle in her eye, she recited perfectly a poem she’d memorized in his class 30 years earlier. But Dr. Hérique had a trick up his own sleeve. He produced an original class list from 1986 showing Myrna as the number one student and award winner.

“I can’t tell you what it meant to me to win that award,” remembers Myrna. She’d waited two decades to fulfil her dream of studying French at university and was “a little nervous” about being the oldest student in the class. The award validated her hard work. To this day, she treasures the framed certificate that hangs above her desk.

Two certificates, side by side

Meanwhile, another dream was germinating in the back of Myrna’s mind. What if she could gift that sense of pride to other hardworking students? When her husband retired and sold his business, she grasped the opportunity and created an endowed award in the Department of French. Now a certificate commemorating the Myrna McEwen Daniels Scholarship hangs beside the other, which Myrna says makes her feel “as if my life has come full circle. I am especially happy that, since I’m the last McEwen in my family, our name will live on as well.”

This fall, Myrna met the first recipients of her award. “It was so gratifying,” says Myrna. “To anyone thinking of leaving a legacy of a scholarship, I’d say, try to do it while you’re still alive. The knowledge that, every year, a deserving student has benefitted from something that you did will be an irreplaceable feeling.”