“I have found the ‘more’ I had been looking for. I found it with Epilepsy Canada. In hindsight, I see that my personal quest and perseverance to obtain my MBA was to honour the memory of my little girl. She was my inspiration and it is my soul-fulfilling honour to be able use my hard-earned MBA to help find a cure for epilepsy.”
Carrie Morrison MBA(FS) Class of 2018
Carrie Morrison MBA(FS) Class of 2018
At the end of my academic journey with Dal and my MBA goal achieved, many people asked, “what are you going to do with your degree?” To be honest, I always knew I wanted to do more… more than my role at the bank, which fulfills my need for professional growth, my ambition and pays my bills. The problem was I did not know what “more” looked like or how it would manifest itself or materialize.
Currently, I work as the Chief of Staff for Enterprise Systems, Security and Solutions, TD Bank. I work closely with senior leaders to run, protect and transform the bank. This means we ensure stable and secure operations through technological solutions, enablement, advancements and innovations. Sounds kind of fancy but in simplified terms, the team I work with delivers information and cyber security, enterprise technology and transformational programs and initiatives. It is a role, to be honest, which challenges me daily and provides me a new-found knowledge and insight beyond what I had imagined. And yet, even though I feel engaged professionally, I acknowledged that I was ready for something outside my career path.
I determined that it was time to search for the “more” by exploring options and opportunities. I asked myself some soul-searching questions: What could I do with my MBA? How could I leverage my education and degree for the greater good? Why had I persevered through years of school? What was it all for? I recognized that I was personally invested in school, but it was during this time of reflection and discovery that I came to find its true connection.
My MBA gave me a professional distinction which was recognized not only within my company and industry, but across the country and, in fact, world. Those three letters, MBA, are a universal acronym and symbol that tells people, ‘hey, that person knows a thing or two…’! My MBA gives me credibility – a credibility for which I am responsible to live up to and uphold, a credibility which is tangible and understandable inside and outside of a business context.
This credibility led me to consider opportunities which would have otherwise been out of immediate reach. Opportunities like: becoming an Exec at a fintech or startup, something new and exciting and almost entrepreneurial in spirit; possibly teaching, taking additional adult learning courses in order to inspire and instill knowledge in others, which I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to receive; and/or finally join a Board. Not just any board, a board which had salience for me. A board which fulfilled my soul and personal quest for “more”.
This was it! Joining a Board would allow me to leverage my MBA for a good cause. My MBA was an allowance, giving me the permission to apply within this arena without having to have work for 25+years. It provided me credibility which is usually gained through years of service. Through my journey of self-discovery, which followed graduation and lasted about a year, I had finally figured out what “more” meant to me.
Before I started my MBA, my husband and I sadly lost a child, Carlee Dale, when she was an infant, to a rare epileptic disorder called Ohtahara Syndrome. The experience of losing a child changed me forever and I hope no one will ever have to live with the lasting sorrow, like I do. I persevered through some personally tragic, hard and dark times. As time progressed, so has my healing. However, I continued to crave a challenge of perseverance. The challenge gave me relief and solace. It gave me something on which to focus my energy, while providing a distraction.
Fast forward, having my MBA in hand, the only thing that made sense was to fight in Carlee Dale’s memory and for other people impacted by epilepsy. I applied to the Board for Epilepsy Canada and was welcomed to join the Board in September 2019. Epilepsy Canada is a Canadian charity which works to raise funds to fund research and find a cure for epilepsy. Its funding is driven primarily by social media, individual events and sadly, estates. We are actively seeking corporate partnerships and alliances in order to strengthen and support our ability to fund important research initiatives to find a cure across Canada.
I have found the ‘more’ I had been looking for. I found it with Epilepsy Canada. In hindsight, I see that my personal quest and perseverance to obtain my MBA was to honour the memory of my little girl. She was my inspiration and it is my soul-fulfilling honour to be able to use my hard-earned MBA to help find a cure for epilepsy.
Epilepsy Canada. – Canada’s only national, registered charity, dedicated to raising funds for Epilepsy research and education.
Founded in 1966.
Did you know:
- Over 350,000 Canadian men, women and children live with Epilepsy. It affects 65 million worldwide.
- There is no cure.
- Epilepsy affects more people than cerebral palsy + muscular dystrophy + multiple sclerosis + cystic fibrosis, combined
- Epilepsy causes more deaths than breast cancer, prescription overdoses, skin cancer and drunk driving accidents
- The epileptic population is 2x as likely as the general population to suffer from depression