Alumni Profile
Community Centre Alliance - Memorial University of Newfoundland
Bernie Morgan
Fry Family Foundation Exceptional Achievement Scholarship, 2012
Fry Family Foundation Exceptional Achievement Scholarship, 2012
I am currently in the third year of law school at the University of New Brunswick Faculty of Law. Prior to law school, I completed a Bachelor of Arts, with a major in Police Studies at Memorial University, while simultaneously serving as a member of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary. I credit much of my success to my involvement with the Virginia Park Community Centre. I was an active participant in many Community Centre programs, including summer camps, after school programs and various sports. The community centre afterschool program’s homework assistance program provided me a space to learn how to balance completing assigned work, with recreational activities. I believe that programming placed an emphasis on learning that allowed me to develop an academic curiosity that stuck with me for life.
I was also able to see the selfless dedication many staff and (especially) volunteers had to the community and its residents. That mentorship cultivated my desire to give back to my community. I acted on that through volunteering and, eventually, working at the community centre in some of the very programs that were formative to me. Through this involvement, I was able to apply for, and receive, the Fry Family Foundation Exceptional Achievement Scholarship. This financial assistance allowed me to chase my next goal – a career in policing with the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary. At the time, the RNC training took place at Memorial University, so the scholarship was incredibly helpful in following that dream. I never forgot the community centre, and the chance that its programs could highlight the potential in another would-be student. I returned to volunteer on the community centre’s board of directors as a token of appreciation to the place that propelled my university studies.
That academic curiosity that grew in the Community Centre’s library never went away, after 6 years policing in St. John’s and 2 in Labrador City, I decided to chase another academic challenge – law school. I was accepted at the UNB Law school in 2023, and finished on the Dean’s List in both of my first years, while collecting 5 awards for the top mark in mandatory classes along the way. None of this would have been possible without the initial assistance of the Fry Family Foundation.
In a world with so many paths, all it takes are positive role models to make the path to success stand out.
Bernie
Virginia Park Community Centre
2025
I was also able to see the selfless dedication many staff and (especially) volunteers had to the community and its residents. That mentorship cultivated my desire to give back to my community. I acted on that through volunteering and, eventually, working at the community centre in some of the very programs that were formative to me. Through this involvement, I was able to apply for, and receive, the Fry Family Foundation Exceptional Achievement Scholarship. This financial assistance allowed me to chase my next goal – a career in policing with the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary. At the time, the RNC training took place at Memorial University, so the scholarship was incredibly helpful in following that dream. I never forgot the community centre, and the chance that its programs could highlight the potential in another would-be student. I returned to volunteer on the community centre’s board of directors as a token of appreciation to the place that propelled my university studies.
That academic curiosity that grew in the Community Centre’s library never went away, after 6 years policing in St. John’s and 2 in Labrador City, I decided to chase another academic challenge – law school. I was accepted at the UNB Law school in 2023, and finished on the Dean’s List in both of my first years, while collecting 5 awards for the top mark in mandatory classes along the way. None of this would have been possible without the initial assistance of the Fry Family Foundation.
In a world with so many paths, all it takes are positive role models to make the path to success stand out.
Bernie
Virginia Park Community Centre
2025