OPPORTUNITY FUNDS-BULGARIA

For High School Juniors and Seniors

Success Stories

Snezhina Kancheva

                         AY2016-17 Opportunity Student                        
Prof. Dr. Assen Zlatarov FLS, Veliko Turnovo

                         Yale-NUS College in Singapore                         
Life Sciences

My name is Snezhina and I am currently a sophomore at Yale-NUS College in Singapore with a prospective major – Life Sciences. Two years ago, I intended to continue my education in a US higher institution and therefore, I applied to thirteen colleges in the US. While finishing up my application to Yale on Common Application, I found out about Yale-NUS by what we call the “check-the-box option”. I found the idea of pursuing a liberal arts degree in Asia so appealing that I deleted my Yale application and applied to Yale-NUS instead and I was accepted!

How did the Opportunity Funds scholarship help me get to where I am now?

In fact, I had never thought of applying to the US, let alone Singapore, before receiving the Opportunity Funds scholarship. That was partially because I used to live in a very unsupportive community in which success is confined to achieving a degree from a German higher institution.  Other exotic destinations beyond the borders of the Federal Republic are considered unreachable. Consequently, one is restricted to pursue their studies in disciplines offered in public German universities which might not necessarily align with their own passions.

However, the support I received from the other Opportunity Funds scholarship recipients motivated me to undertake an “unusual” life path that brought me to where I am now. I would also like to acknowledge Snejana Teneva’s enormous contribution to our SAT and TOEFL preparation as well as her wonderful advice for successful college applications. Without those people and the sponsorship of Opportunity Funds I wouldn’t have taken up a major that I love in a college that encourages personal growth and accomplishment.

Disclaimer: The text is published in its original and unedited version.

 Opportunity student

My suitemates and I during an official college dinner for the start of the semester