USA/USA helps Ukraine's students realize dreams (08/10/97)

USA/USA helps Ukraine's students realize dreams

by Roman Woronowycz

KYIV - Sitting in a classroom in July is no high school student's dream vacation. But when the ultimate dream is a paid American college education, it makes it much more bearable.

Thirty-two high school students did just that at the University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in early July. They were there for a weeklong workshop of intensive instruction on procedures and requirements for admission into U.S. universities.

The students were learning the mundane tasks that every college aspirant must go through: how to fill out college application forms, how to write entry essays, what documents they must forward to the universities they have chosen, how to go about requesting financial aid, room and board, etc. And as anyone who has gone through it will tell you, the process can be intimidating, mostly because of the mountains of paperwork that are required.

With the help of USA/USA (Ukrainian Student Association of the U.S.A.), an academic advising and recruiting project whose mission is to avail some of Ukraine's most gifted students of an American college education, the latest students are hoping to join 17 others who are now studying in the U.S. on full scholarships.

Yaroslava Babych, one of two coordinators of the workshop, said the students who made it through the selection process and were invited to the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy workshop are told about applications and financial aid forms, as well as about the university system in America and college student life.

"Here we start from the beginning: how to choose a college," said Ms. Babych. "We then tell them about the obstacles. We explain to them the U.S. educational system. For example, we tell them that the first years are general education, then you choose a specialization. We tell them what liberal arts is. We explain to them that in the U.S. the goal is a diverse education, whereas in Ukraine it is narrow, specialized knowledge."

The students are also given lists of which colleges to apply to (this year there are 82 schools on the list) and information on how to receive fee waivers. They have access to preparatory materials on the TOEFL, SAT I and SAT II tests they will be required to take, and are counseled in game theory and on successfully competing for limited scholarships.

Ms. Babych should know what it takes to get into a U.S. college. The Kirovohrad-born student just completed her first year at Colby College in Maine after working through USA/USA to get admittance and a four-year scholarship.

The other coordinator, Yulia Komska, is also just back from her first year studying in the U.S. at Franklin Marshall College in Pennsylvania.

The program counts on those who have successfully completed the process to bring something back to it by working with the applicants, because who better knows what it takes to get into a U.S. college than a person who has just gone through the arduous process. Current students are also asked to work with the universities they are attending to bring in more students through USA/USA.

The prospective students are pretty much left on their own after the workshop. They choose the universities and colleges, fill out and send their own applications. During the week at the workshop they have access to brochures, manuals and preparatory books, and can use the libraries of ACCELS, the Renaissance Foundation and the International Advisory Center of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Application fees, document fees and the like, however, are covered by USA/USA. Each student generally sends out 10-20 applications.

"We try to maintain a family atmosphere, we want them to stay close to us. They know our e-mail addresses, and we advise them when problems arise," said Ms. Babych.

Not every student qualifies for the program because the requirements are strict: students must show a high degree of English proficiency, good marks and must be recommended by their teachers.

After they are accepted for the workshop, there is the TOEFL English proficiency examination and the SAT college exams that all foreign students must successfully complete before entering a U.S. college or university.

If precedent is maintained, about a handful from this year's group will eventually enter a private U.S. college, where they will receive free tuition, room and board.

The 32 who attended the workshop at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy are the finalists from a group of more than 200 interested 10th and 11th graders who began vying for the invitation more than 20 months ago.

The selection process begins with a letter to the USA/USA office in Kyiv. Information regarding the opportunity to study in the U.S. is disseminated via newspapers and TV and through notices and posters in high schools that emphasize an English-language curriculum.

The interested student is required to write two essays in English: one on the topic "Why I want to study in the U.S." and another on an individually chosen subject. The student also must submit an autobiography (a resume or CV), a recommendation from a teacher, a photocopy of his latest school transcripts, photos and self-addressed envelopes.

The applicants are then screened, and the chosen are invited to take an English-proficiency examination, which is structured like a TOEFL examination. Tests are given in five cities in Ukraine: Kyiv, Odesa, Lviv, Kharkiv and Zaporizhia.

Up to 10 students from each city, who must also achieve at least a minimum score on their language proficiency test, are invited to Kyiv for the workshop. The cost of their travel and room and board is picked up by USA/USA, as is the SAT and TOEFL exams they will take later.

This is USA/USA's fifth year placing Ukrainian students with American universities. The organization was conceived by Dr. Bohdan Oryshkevich of New York in the summer of 1992.

"When Ukraine started to emerge from the shadow of the Soviet Union in 1988-1991, I saw that it had to be rebuilt from the ground up," said Dr. Oryshkevich. "It had to develop world-class skills and experience. And the only way to do that was to start with the kids."

Initial funding was provided by the Ukrainian National Association with two grants totaling $5,500. Today USA/USA is part of the umbrella aid organization, the Coordinating Committee to Aid Ukraine.

This year's effort is being sponsored by Shop-Vac, makers of commercial vacuums of Williamsport, Pa., through the efforts of Alex Ponomarenko, a Ukrainian who received his U.S. education with the help of Dr. Oryshkevich's organization and now works for Lehman Bros. "From what I understand Shop-Vac had some extra cash floating around and didn't know what to do with it, so they gave it to us," said Dr. Oryshkevich.

In the future USA/USA hopes to establish a placement agency in Kyiv that will maintain constructive contact with Ukrainian students in the U.S., which will help reintegrate them into Ukrainian society upon their return, and will place them into employment opportunities that will serve their personal needs and those of Ukrainian society. A second goal is to establish an agency to provide concrete educational internship opportunities in Ukraine for students still studying in North America.

Dr. Oryshkevich said he would also like to work more closely with the Ukrainian institutes and organizations that are affiliated with colleges and universities in the U.S., such as those at Harvard, Yale and the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.

So how are the kids studying in the U.S. doing? The first students associated with the USA/USA graduated this past spring.

Anya Lysianskaya of Kyiv graduated from Smith College and will pursue a doctorate in computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Currently, she is interning at MicroSoft.

Natalia Dmitrieva of Kyiv graduated from Mt. Holyoke College. She interned for U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy and will now work for J.P. Morgan as an investment banker.

Ekaterina Horbatiuk of Odesa graduated as class valedictorian at the Laboratory Institute of Fashion in New York. She has been hired by Lehman Bros. as an investment banker specializing in the emerging economies of Eastern Europe.

If you would like to support the work of USA/USA, send your contribution to: USA/USA, P.O.Box 250093, Columbia University, New York, NY 10025-1531.

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