A Note of Thanks

Dear Members of the Rotary Club of Ottawa South,

I hope this note finds you well. I’m writing simply to say thank you.

I was a student at Hillcrest High School when the Rotary Club of Ottawa South supported me during my graduation period. At the time, I don’t think I fully had the language to express what that support meant. Looking back now, I understand it more clearly.

I have recently been selected by the World Economic Forum to attend the 2026 Annual Meeting in Davos as part of its Global Shapers Community, representing civil society. This is not something I could have achieved alone. My path forward was shaped, in no small part, by the confidence and encouragement I received early on, particularly at a moment when socioeconomic hardship could easily have narrowed my sense of what was possible.

Your support did more than help me graduate high school and pursue post secondary education. It gave me the confidence to pursue academia seriously, to believe that I belonged in those spaces, and to keep going when the path felt uncertain. That belief stayed with me.

I wanted you to know that your investment mattered, and that it continues to ripple forward in ways that are not always immediately visible. I carry that with me, including now, as I step into international spaces that once felt very far away.

Sincerely,

Amar Marouf