TORONTO, ON - March 10, 2014 /CNW/ -   StudentAwards has awarded a total of $30,000 to students across Canada as part of the Scotiabank National Scholarship. With more than 20,000 applicants, the scholarships were awarded to 12 high school and post-secondary students who were asked to share what 'richness' means to them in a short, creative essay.

The Scotiabank National Scholarship launched in 2013 and is offered annually to help alleviate the financial burden and stress caused by post-secondary education. Aaron Buckley (ON), Gabriella Learn (ON), Hannah Mazurek (AB), Jessamine Liu (B.C.), Kieran Ward (Ont.), Lucas Palmer (ON), Natalie Brodych (AB), Nikethana Srikanth (ON), Oluwapelumi Olatunbosun (ON), Sophia Capo (ON), Taylor Noble (SK) and Catherine de Pierrepont (QC) were the 12 students selected to each receive a $2,500 scholarship.

"Richness is the array of paths presented to me as I near the end of my high school career," said Gabriella Learn, one of the 12 scholarship recipients. "My life is rich with opportunities with choices and experiences, and helping hands guiding me through the process of deciding what ideas best fit me and my dreams."

"This scholarship was designed to help students focus on life's rich experiences while also providing them with financial support," said Janet Boyle,Scotiabank's Vice President of Unsecured Retail & Small Business Lending. "Through essays, poetry, letters and reflections, we were able to hear first-hand how students are rich in their own lives. Scotiabank is excited to offer this scholarship annually to continue to help students in their academic journey."

The Scotiabank National Scholarship is part of a 10-year partnership between Scotiabank and StudentAwards. The two have also partnered to create FundYourFuture.ca, a student-focused website that links to hundreds of scholarships and bursaries and provides financial advice and money management strategies. FundYourFuture.ca provides many great funding options to help students get a solid financial start.

"StudentAwards is a platform offering money and support so that students have the opportunity to realize their full potential," says Rob Henderson, CEO of yconic, parent company of StudentAwards. "We are proud to partner with Scotiabank on a scholarship that has asked students to acknowledge what richness means to them."

"As a student, I believe that richness means the freedom to dream big and fear nothing," said Natalie Brodych one of the Calgary-based scholarship recipient. "Richness is having the power to pursue your dreams and step fearlessly into your future."

The Scotiabank National Scholarship application process started in October 2013 for students who were planning to enroll or continuing to be enrolled in full-time studies in a certificate, diploma or degree program at a Canadian post-secondary school. The scholarship will be available to students again in fall 2014 on StudentAwards.com and FundYourFuture.ca.

About StudentAwards
StudentAwards is owned and operated by yconic and is Canada's largest student-based platform providing youth with opportunities and awards to help them reach life's milestones. Since 1998, StudentAwards has been helping high school, college and university students from across Canada get ahead by providing them with access to scholarships, bursaries, contests, specialized student offers, giveaways and other financial assistance. With over 2.25 million members, and an average of 566 new members a day, StudentAwards provides youth with access to more than $87 million in financial awards annually. For more information please visitwww.StudentAwards.com and www.yconic.ca.

About Scotiabank 
Scotiabank is a leading financial services provider in over 55 countries and Canada's most international bank. Through our team of more than 83,000 employees, Scotiabank and its affiliates offer a broad range of products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management, corporate and investment banking to over 21 million customers. With assets of $783 billion (as at January 31, 2014), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (TSX: BNS) and New York Exchanges (NYSE: BNS). Scotiabank distributes the Bank's media releases using CNW. For more information please visit www.scotiabank.com.

For more information, please contact:

Madison Olyniuk
Brookline Public Relations
E: molyniuk@brooklinepr.com
P: 403-538-5641 ext. 109