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Yana Slavinska from Kherson always dreamed of studying law to have the opportunity to defend people. It all started with research for the Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine on the topic of bullying and the lives of children in Kherson during the Holodomor.

Today, her dream is coming true: Yana has received a scholarship to study at the Kyiv School of Economics, thanks to the KSE Foundation’s benefactors. The student is confident that scholarship programs are particularly important for internally displaced youth – applicants who evacuated due to the war:

“I want to thank the benefactors of the Kyiv School of Economics for giving the opportunity to those who left the occupied territories to study in such conditions at a top university. It is crucial to provide financial assistance to children from the occupied territories because each of them is currently experiencing tremendous stress. Some have parents fighting on the front lines, some have left the occupied territories, and the homes of others have been completely destroyed.”

Yana herself was forced to leave her home too after two months of living under occupation in Kherson. That time the availability of food in the occupied city dwindled, and shelling intensified. So Yana’s father tried to evacuate the family from the occupation, but several times, when they attempted to leave the city, Russian military forces did not allow the evacuation convoy to pass. When the situation worsened even more, the family took the risk to travel a different route:

“When we finally reached the Ukrainian checkpoint, people were getting out of cars and kissing the ground. It’s nice to understand that you are free.”

Strategic Aspiration: To become a high-class economist with both essential professional knowledge and unique skills

“KSE stands out for its flexibility in teaching and delivering materials. Teachers observe how students perceive the material and adjust the program accordingly. It resulted in excellent academic performance, and I became more interested and active myself.”

Ivan received a scholarship due to outstanding academic achievements after the first year of study.

Field of Study: Business Economics

Myroslava Borysiuk is a first-year student from Mariupol who returned to Ukraine after a year and a half of living in Ireland. All to study at the Kyiv School of Economics. And then – to return to the Donetsk region to help overcome the consequences of the war on the legal front. For this purpose, the student chose the specialty “Law.”

“I wanted to enter the Kyiv School of Economics because of the teachers. All the teachers are very strong, motivated people; they really strive to teach us. My favorite teacher is Oksana Syroyid,” says Myroslava.

To start pursuing her dream education, Myroslava was helped by the KSE Foundation donors – thanks to their support, the grant scholarship program covered all her academic years.

Myroslava Borysiuk experienced the beginning of the war in her native Mariupol: first at the age of nine in 2014 when Russian troops invaded Ukraine. Then – on February 24, 2022, already in the 10th grade. Both times, everything started with explosions, recalls Myroslava:

“I was 9 years old. I remember the first day: my parents took me out of school, I heard terrible explosions. It was very loud, but my parents decided not to leave the city. The windows of our house faced the left-bank city administration, where the Ukrainian flag always flew. One day, in the morning, I opened the curtains – and there was already a Russian flag.”

In 2014, the city was occupied for a month. At that time, little Myroslava, upon hearing the news of the children’s deaths in Mariupol, wrote a letter to her future self: she wrote that she wants to live in Ukraine. Then the city was freed. But in 2022, Mariupol was occupied and destroyed by Russia.

When the hostilities began, first-year KSE student Daria Popadyk lived in Mykolaiv. The city was systematically shelled from the occupied territories until the liberation of Kherson in the fall of 2022. Her family’s apartment suffered damage from a rocket hit in a neighboring building. After a month of constant sheltering in a bomb shelter, Daria’s family decided to evacuate to Moldova, while her father joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

“In the first days after February 24, there were a lot of shelling in our area. But then we realized that it was only the beginning. Because later, the Russians started shelling much more often. So, with my mom, grandma, and grandpa, we decided to go to relatives in Moldova. And my father stayed in Mykolaiv and volunteered to serve,” Daria recounts.

Spending a year and a half outside Ukraine, Daria dedicated herself to volunteering. Almost immediately after arriving in Moldova, she joined the local youth center to help Ukrainian children adapt, who, like her, found temporary refuge there.

Here, she also started attending psychological training sessions for Ukrainians – later, this would inspire her to enroll in the Kyiv School of Economics specializing in “Psychology.”

“When I was choosing a university, I turned to my acquaintances studying at the Kyiv School of Economics – and they said that it is a modern university with modern teaching methods. They also told me about a grant program at KSE, funded by donors from Ukraine and abroad. So, I couldn’t miss such an opportunity,” says the first-year student.

Lada Kovalenkova is a designer by first education. In school, she spent many years practicing ballet, graduated from an art school, and worked with local clothing brands in her hometown of Kryvyi Rih.

However, with the onset of the large-scale war, Lada decided to focus on a new specialization. She received a grant to study for a master’s degree in “Social Psychology” at the Kyiv School of Economics. All the years of pursuing her second higher education are supported by the benefactors of the KSE Foundation.

Studying “Social Psychology” at KSE differs from the common approach in Ukraine – students learn through research and also gain practical knowledge for effective psychological practice and starting their own businesses.

“My dad used to say that when a shell is flying into a trench, there’s nothing you can do. Later, he died just like that – a Russian shell hit his trench. It’s been six months, and my mom and I are still on the phone for hours discussing ideas on how to prevent my father from going to the front,” says Lada.

Studying psychology helps Lada cope with her own emotions. Learning in a group was a challenge for her:

“I strive to be able to establish communication with different groups of people, improve my knowledge. That’s why I became interested in ‘Social Psychology.’ In a few months of studying, my communication skills have already improved, and I’ve become much better at speaking Ukrainian. The ability to convey my thoughts qualitatively is also improving.”