The Scholarship Program at ISP provides transformational opportunities for deserving local students for whom an ISP education would otherwise be out of financial reach. All our scholars continue their education and go to university on another scholarship and go on to lead healthy, fulfilling, and purposeful lives, contributing responsibly to our changing world!
Catching up with Victoria Shedeva (Class of 2017) and Scholarship Recipient
Where in the world are you and what are you doing now?
I am currently in my final year at the University of Aberdeen, majoring in Accountancy and Economics. A major part of my 4-year program I spent living in Scotland, enjoying the beauty of this country, with its stunning architecture and open-hearted people. The student life on its own had to offer a lot of life-lasting memories, adventures, and personal growth. I met great people and have built strong friendships from all around the world, hoping that our bond will maintain in the future. Thanks to the university exchange program, I had an opportunity to study and live abroad during my program. I moved to Hong Kong in my second year and managed to use my holiday time in between to travel around Asia. Currently, I am writing my dissertation in Economics and looking forward to finishing my studies in the coming spring.
What do you intend to do in the future?
The beauty of being in the early 20s is that I have an opportunity to question myself what I would really like to do and to be honest my list is endless. After graduating I plan to work for a year to get more relevant working experience and establish some fundamentals for myself, before committing to investing in my masters. In the meantime, I hope to travel and explore more of what Asia has to offer and to discover some new parts of the world for myself, like the Middle East.
How has being the recipient of an ISP Scholarship affected your life?
Being the recipient of the ISP Scholarship has been a life-changing event that helped me not just to discover my inner talents and strengths, but as well opened up a major door of opportunities and a brighter future! Obviously, the workload was challenging and demanding at times, but looking back I can confidently say that it was always exciting to go to school. I always viewed it as a place where you can be both friends with teachers and classmates. The culture of ISP has a strong sense of upright ethics and fairness, giving the opportunity to everyone and embracing individual backgrounds. As the majority can relate, being a teenager at times can feel like a world is shattering under your feet and that’s when ISP seemed like a bright light at the end of the tunnel for me. Going back to school and feeling the positivity, enthusiasm, and ambition from other people made me so motivated to wonder and plan my own future ahead. That energy that ISP gave me during my upbringing, is something I am always gonna be thankful for!
Have you a specific memory of your time at ISP that you would like to share?
I have been a very active member of the ISP community while in high school and had organized or participated in many events. Hence, it is quite difficult for me to select just one memory that would symbolize my whole experience there. If I have to, I guess it would be the first Christmas celebration that I saw at ISP. It was not something too major, but simply all the school gathered in the gym and sang Christmas songs altogether. I remember at that moment I was touched because the organizers prepared a Christmas playlist and designed a whole program where almost every student had a chance to connect to their own background. I remember when they played Indian and Russian songs and I saw everyone, regardless of their age participating, it really made me feel warm and welcomed. It was small but a very beautiful moment for me.
