Three journeys, one incredible impact

When students look back on the moments that shape their lives, they rarely remember numbers or logistics.

They remember people – the ones who believed in them before they fully believed in themselves.

At the University of Manitoba, donor generosity fuels that belief.

The journeys of Luma Lopes, Alex Witt, and Carson Beggs show how donor support shapes experiences and opportunities for students. 

Luma: “Every award felt like someone saying, ‘Keep going.’” 

When Luma Lopes first arrived in Winnipeg from Brazil, life felt both exciting and terrifying. She jokes now that landing in –30°C with “200 bucks in my pocket and a dream” was the moment she knew she was truly starting over.

Throughout her PhD journey, Luma received multiple donor-supported graduate awards, including the Bert and Lee Friesen Graduate Scholarship and the Mark G. and Patricia N. Smerchanski Graduate Award.  

Behind every milestone – completing a complex experiment, presenting research, pushing through unpredictability – was a donor providing moments of encouragement.

Those awards helped her imagine a future she once thought out of reach: becoming a professor, carrying out research she’s passionate about and supporting the next generation of scientists.  

Your support gave her more than funding.

It gave her momentum to persevere through challenges and periods of loneliness, knowing someone she had never met was there alongside her, supporting her along the way. In 2025, she was the Falling Walls Lab Manitoba winner, a competition that challenges participants to pitch a bold game-changing idea in just three minutes. She went on to compete in Berlin, Germany. 

Alex: “You made my childhood dream possible.”

As a boy, Alex Witt sat in the stands with his dad, studying university volleyball players, their technique, their footwork, their confidence. He remembers thinking: One day, I want to be that.  

That dream took grit. Alex worked long summer hours – “50-hour weeks pouring concrete” – to support himself while training at an elite level.

Donor support changed everything. Through the Brant Heywood Scholarship, he felt embraced by a community that wanted him to succeed.  

The funding Alex received didn’t just help him stay on the court; it helped him become a leader. With the financial barriers lifted, Alex was able to not only complete his studies while playing volleyball but also give back to other student athletes as well. He coaches in the Junior Bisons Program, volunteers in community initiatives and serves as Co‑Chair of the University of Manitoba Athletes Council.  

His dream came true not only because he worked hard but because someone chose to invest in him. 

Carson: “Your support tells us that someone sees our hard work.”

Carson Beggs began his UM swim career as a 17 year‑old walk‑on unsure if he belonged but determined to try.  

His perseverance carried him through training during COVID-19, coaching young swimmers, qualifying for U SPORTS and Olympic trials, and even being selected to coach Team Manitoba at the 2023 North American Indigenous Games.  

Still, one of the most powerful moments came quietly – through an email informing him he had received the Tracy and Brian Bowman Bison Swimming Scholarship.  

For Carson, donor support is more than financial assistance. It’s validation of years of effort, of early mornings and late practices, of unseen resilience. 

A shared message of gratitude

These three students come from different places, pursue different dreams and walk very different paths. But there is one thread that connects them:

Because of donors, they felt seen. They felt supported. They felt capable.

In 2024/25, 1,746 donors contributed to student awards, demonstrating the powerful community behind student success at UM.