You're absolutely right! We should also not care so much about 'prestige' or how 'prestigious' an award is. We are all incredible for undertaking a PhD in the first place - regardless if we finish or move on to other/better things. Thanks for this!
I think that with 50k a year, it's a question of putting some aside for the 4th and 5th year of our PhD. I'm also starting my first year in the fall and that's what I intend on doing. We're also very privileged to have gotten such a big amount - some other students fund their PhD studies on 15k (OGS) a year.
Just checked my ResearchNet profile - I also got a SSHRC-Vanier ! Congrats to everyone who got nominated. Also, I don't think you need that many publications to get Vanier. I only have one 3rd author article and one conference presentation. It's a really subjective process, so if anyone wants to apply next year, don't hesitate !
Is anyone else having an issue with your research-net login ? I haven't checked it for months now, but when I tried to login earlier today, it kept giving me an error message.