There is no greater gift that parents can bestow on their children than the gift of education. Education means options for the future, the freedom to choose any career and an open door to the world, a world that is full of opportunities and possibilities. The gift of a TFS education is especially valuable and precious, because the opportunity to become fully bilingual, or multilingual, is actually the gift of perspective.

As a child and a teenager growing up in Catalunya, a proud, independently spirited nation within the Kingdom of Spain, I was raised speaking two languages, Spanish and Catalan. That was fortunate, because I realized at an early age that knowing a second language offered the speaker a different perspective on the world, an opportunity to step into someone else’s shoes and experience the world through another cultural lens. Although Catalan and Spanish are the official languages of Catalunya today, when I was growing up, Spain was in the grip of a dictatorship and the Catalan language had been banned. Spain was to an extent isolated from the rest of the world and all the important events seemed to be happening elsewhere in the 1960s – in London and in Paris. The world “out there” was evolving, and I wanted to be part of it.

Studying English and French in high school opened up exciting new possibilities for me, and through language I explored literature and philosophy. Indeed, “foreign” languages gave me a new sense of freedom. I went on to earn a BA in English at the University of Barcelona, and the graduate scholarships I subsequently received allowed me to take an even greater step: they enabled me to travel and study in England and France, at the Universities of Warwick, Sorbonne and Oxford, which expanded my horizons and my hopes even more.

Scholarships clearly changed the direction of my life and led me to a career in education that would not have been possible under different circumstances. So when I learned about the TFS plan to establish an Entrance Scholarship program, a program that each year would welcome up to two bright Grade 7 students who would not otherwise be able to attend our extraordinary school, I was enthusiastically supportive.

A TFS education is an asset for life. It is the gift of bilingualism and internationalism. Academic institutions, by their very nature, embrace an ethic of openness and diversity. Since TFS was established in 1962 by Harry and Anna Giles, it has stood for and promoted différence and diversity as perhaps no other school can. TFS is Canada’s international school, bilingual, co-educational, non-denominational — unique. An Entrance Scholarship program at TFS aligns with every ideal and aspiration this school was founded upon.

The true gift of a scholarship is the liberty to choose one’s life path, and the true gift of a TFS education is perspective on the world at large. Perspective is something our globalized yet fractious world needs more than ever, so I urge every TFS family to support the Entrance Scholarships program.

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