Books helped Hailey through a long childhood illness. Now, she’s celebrating her resilience and the opportunity to study and become a writer.
Applying for the Harrison McCain scholarship required Hailey Rodenhiser to seek out two references. One was from her high school. The other was from the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
At seven, Rodenhiser was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and endured two and a half years of profoundly difficult treatment and the complications that followed. ” Now that I’m going on 10 years [post-treatment] I’m only seeing a doctor every year. It’s definitely a getting-back-to-normal situation now.”
Rodenhiser is a first-year King’s student—and Harrison McCain scholarship winner—looking at majors in Film, Cinema and Media Studies or Creative Writing, with a minor in Early Modern Studies. Her end goal is to be a writer, crafting both fiction and a memoir about her journey through treatment. “Books have always been like a refuge for me,” she says. “They made me happy in times when happiness was hard to find.”
She loves the independence of living on campus while still having the comfort of her family only an hour away in Bridgewater, and getting a little bit of her childhood back through cosplaying. Rodenhiser also still enjoys what she was granted through Make-a-Wish in 2017: A pop-up camper that takes her family to PEI and to their lake house to fill with friends.
Rodenhiser still feels some aftershocks of health anxiety, which she works through with her “good rationalizing brain,” but it’s outshone by her delight at where she is. “I’m in university now,” she says. “It’s somewhere I never thought I’d be.”
If your life were a novel, what would the title be?
I’m Pretty Stubborn—I never back down.
What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever ignored?
Having an outline. Some of my best writing wasn’t even planned.
If you were doing a King’s literary cosplay, what writer or character would you pick?
I’m a big fan of Edgar Allan Poe! I could see myself doing a gender-bent cosplay of Edgar Allan Poe…maybe with a raven on my shoulder.
Pen, keyboard, or voice notes—what’s your writing weapon of choice?
Pen and keyboard.
Who’s your dream reader—the one person you’d love to pick up your book?
Any of my family or friends! I want to make them proud with my writing.
Worth $16,000 over four years, the Harrison McCain Scholarship is granted to high school graduates in Canada who have a minimum admission average of 80 per cent, documented financial need and a recognized desire to fund their own education. It’s funded by the Harrison McCain Foundation created to honour the legacy of Canadian business leader, entrepreneur and philanthropist Harrison McCain. Learn how to apply for this and other major scholarships.
