Scholarships Abroad

REPORT FROM LHUNDUP SHERPA

Written to everyone who's been helping 

Tashi Delek!!

  I expect the best of your health and hope things are going well with you all. I am good and doing best of my ability. As I come to the end of my first semester at SFU, I have found it to be a challenging, but successful experience. University is way harder than I expected.  You really need to be focused and should organize. It took me almost two months to adjust to the environment, managing courses and knowing the professors. I introduced myself to the professors, letting them know who I am and where I came from. It’s helping, as they gave more attention and helped me to run through the courses. I took four courses and it’s overwhelming, especially in my situation, where I have to go through everything twice to get understanding. I think it’s the same for most SMD students because English is their 4th or 5th language.

   I did my best in my final exams and am hoping for the good outcome. I enjoyed the course International Studies and decided to do a major in it. It seems this course would help me to follow my dreams in the field of humanitarian work. I registered for four courses in second semester,  International Studies is one of them. I am looking forward to my second semester, which will start after the New Year.

   I am learning and experiencing independent life. It is interesting, fun as well as hard.  I do work hard using best of my opportunities. By thinking about my intentional goals and knowing my background situation, I take steps ahead to be a better person, day by day. I would like to thank you and say that I appreciate your help for changing my life for the better. The inspiring work and support you are giving me will always remain in my heart so I will always work to benefit others.

A measure of SMD’s excellence is the number and quality of scholarships our kids are winning...many SMDers have earned scholarships at some of the best high schools in the world. And so far, four have gone on to university scholarships in the states.

Most of these kids are studying in the International Baccalaureate Diploma programme, considered to be the finest and most challenging high school education in the world. Students who earn IB Diplomas are eligible for scholarships in universities worldwide.

Amongst the outstanding schools that have offered scholarships are, in order of the offers:

Universities:

Westminster College: Fulton Missouri, US (4 year undergraduate programme) www. westminster-mo.edu/

St. Lawrence University: Canton, NY US (4 year undergraduate programme) www. stlawu.edu/

Collge of Idaho: Caldwell, ID (4 year undergraduate programme) http://www.collegeofidaho.edu/


High Schools

United World College of The Adriatic: Italy (Grades 11 & 12) www.uwcad.it/

Red Cross Nordic United World College: Norway (5 scholarships, Grades 11 & 12) www.rcnuwc.uwc.org/

West Island Collge: Calgary, AB Canada (2 scholarships, Grades 10 - 12) http://www.westislandcollege.ab.ca/

St. Julian’s School: Portugal (a 3-year scholarship, pre-IB, plus 11 & 12) www.stjulians.com/

Mulgrave School: Vancouver, BC, Canada (2 scholarships, Grades 11,12) www.mulgrave.com/

Appleby College: Oakville, ON, Canada (Grades 9 – 12) www.appleby.on.ca

Bishop Strachan School: Toronto ON Canada (Grades 9-12) www.bss.on.ca

West Island College: Calgary, AB Canada (2 scholarships: Grades 10-12) www.westislandcollege.ab.ca/

International Community School of Zurich: Switzerland (2 scholarships, Grades 11 & 12)

Le Rosey School: Switzerland (2 scholarships, 1B 11 & 12)

Each school community has come forward in unprecedented ways to provide support.

The Scholarship Winners

Thrangu Rinpoche’s main aim in educating Himalayan kids is to preserve their culture and the Buddhist way of life. All these young people are grateful to Rinpoche and to everyone who has helped them along their way. Out of their gratitude and their understanding of the Buddha's teachings, they all aspire to help others behind them.

The long- term plan for these kids (and the only condition under which I will help them get scholarships) is that they promise to come back to help their own people. My commitment to these young people is to support them when they return to their villages. They will stay a year or two. After their service, they will be free to do what they like.

With these goals in mind, our founder Thrangu Rinpoche, has asked each student to write him a letter promising two things when they finish their education: 1. To return to Nepal to help their own people  2. And to promise not to go "underground" and stay illegally in the countries that have hosted them for scholarships. Among Tibetan Buddhists, such a vow is impossible to break.

Tenzin B165 will be our first university graduate. She finishes a BA in spring 2009.
Tenzin graduated from the United World College of the Adriatic ( Italy)

Some of the Scholarship Kids with Shirley

L-R: Yangchen Drolkar B320, Tashi Dolma B298, Lhundup Sherpa B239, 

Pasang Sherpa B382, Phur Tenzin Sherpa B381