It has been an eventful year for college sophomore Maria Tataru and one of the highlights occurred last week during a special live-streamed meeting of Cambridge city council when she was presented with the Bill Struck Memorial Fund Scholarship.
“Maria has displayed leadership skills and an ability to innovate even through challenges,” said Mayor Kathryn McGarry. “She has demonstrated commitment to community through various volunteer, as well as, work activities including tutoring, babysitting, volunteering with seniors and working part-time for a non-profit organization.”
The scholarship was established in 2000 in memory of veteran city councillor Bill Struck and is awarded to high school graduates, who are pursuing a post-secondary education. The presentation on Sept. 14 was a welcome break from regular council business and some, such as Ward 3 councillor Mike Mann, used the opportunity to congratulate Tataru directly.
“I just want you to know that Preston High School is in my ward and it gives me great pleasure to let Mrs. Struck know that you are the recipient,” said Mann. ”She is always so enthusiastic about the success of students within our community and she will be very happy to know you are the recipient of her late husband’s memorial.”
Support for Maria was unanimous among the mayor and councillors, as well as her family and friends watching the presentation online.
“Mom was there beside me watching the entire time,” said Tataru. “It was my first official recognition for a scholarship so, yes it was really interesting and exciting.”
Sharing the moment with her mother, Lacramioara, was very emotional and rewarding for Tataru given the support and sacrifices her mother has made for her.
“I’m an only child,” she said. “We moved from Romania to Canada when I was just five years old. It’s a big cultural change but I feel like when you’re younger it is a bit easier to adapt because your brain kind of absorbs all the information.”
Tataru’s relationship with her mother came up in McGarry’s presentation.
“Maria immigrated from Romania, arriving in Canada on October 01, 2008,” said McGarry. “She described watching her mother struggle to establish a better life for Maria’s family. As a result, Maria has promised herself to work hard in school in hopes of securing a successful and fruitful future career.”
It is a career choice that will allow Tataru to continue serving her community and the wider world as well
“I just started at the University of Waterloo, where I am taking environmental research and sustainability,” said Tataru. “I was thinking about going into sustainable urban planning, but I am also very interested in the research part, like being in the lab gathering research.”
Her commitment to serving the community was reflected in activities that earned her the scholarship. She babysat her young cousin and tutored her boyfriend’s brother in Grade 7 English.
“I also worked on a seniors’ initiative during the really bad part of the COVID pandemic,” she said. “A couple of my friends helped me, and we made greeting cards for this place called Sending Sunshine that were mailed out to nursing homes throughout Ontario. It was kind of a good way to show appreciation for those, during COVID, that maybe aren’t getting as much attention.”
She worked part-time canvassing and organizing activities for the Ontario Federation for Cerebral Palsy.
“Unfortunately, I don’t work there anymore but I started in 2017 all the way into March of 2019 so, it was a great two years,” she said.
Whether at work or at school, Tataru is always looking for ways to educate herself and serve the community.
“Now, I am working at an organic grocery store called Goodness Me, which is interesting because I am in the environment program,” she said. “It gives me insight into how our food comes in and the process it goes through before we get it.”
Tataru said she is grateful to many people including her high school guidance counsellor, Ms. Cove-Shannon, for suggesting she apply for the scholarship, her boyfriend and his mother who encouraged her to enrol in the environmental program at U of W and her grandmother.
“She lives in Galt so, she’s a 15-minute drive away,” said Tataru. “She takes me to a lot of my classes. She’s a big help. I also want to make sure I express how I am very thankful to the Bill Struck Scholarship Foundation and all their help not just for me but all the students that they have also helped.”
Ward 8 councillor Nicholas Ermeta was quick to wish Tataru luck in her classes at U of W and assure her she was a worthy recipient of the scholarship.
“You are a great role model for the youth of our community,” he said. “It is people like you that are going to make a difference and you are going to do great things for the city. I was very impressed with your resume and reading all of your accomplishments in our council package. I just want to extend the heartiest congrats and I am sure the youth committee is proud as well.”
