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| Peggy Lynch (head of Scholarship Committee) and Alexandra Kosogof (president of UCARE, Inc.) interview a scholarship recipient |
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To qualify for a UCARE scholarship, students must have been accepted to an institution of higher learning in Ukraine (these include trade and technical schools, professional institutions, and universities. They must also have spent at least the two years prior to graduating in an internat, and to be a true orphan.
All applicants also undergo a psychological screening, in an attempt to ensure that the scholarship recipients are psychologically equipped to deal with college and life outside of the orphanage.
While they are in the program, they receive additional counseling, from a psychologist and from former students. This includes help in dealing with stress, and adapting to living independently. Many of these students have spent years in institutions, and lack basic skills such as cooking, budgeting, and even handling finances.
The students, who go to schools all around the country, have three mandatory meetings a year in Kyiv. They met with staff, who assess their progress and try to discover what their individuals needs are, both material and psychological. In the fall Peggy Lynch, the head of the UCARE scholarship committee, travels to Ukraine to meet with the students. She individually interviews each at least once during their educational career, so as to better understand their needs, and thus to better help them reach their goals.
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