Scholarships are vital requirements when one is planning to study abroad. They keep you at a safe space in the university, cover up all the expenses you would otherwise have to pay for and make your university life easier especially financially. Just how easy it sounds to study while having a scholarship, it is equally hard to get one. To secure a scholarship you need to be prepared with multiple things so that you will be supported with the right financial amount and there are also various methods you can secure a scholarship.
Securing Scholarship course was designed for students seeking education abroad with scholarships at Ph.D., Masters, and Bachelors levels. Course sessions included training on interviews preparation with foreign universities, CV and how to attract interest from admissions and scholarship panel, cover letters, short literature reviews for further academia, and discussion for Nepalese students and potential job-rich academic sectors, prospects. It was a highly interactive session where the trainer and participants will be simulating actual admissions and scholarship processes. The securing scholarship course was facilitated by Mr. Bhuwan Ghimire, Research, and Scholarship Advisor.
The securing scholarship session began with the general introduction of the facilitator. Then all the participants were asked to introduce themselves, their current engagement, educational and professional field, where they want to study further, and also about extra activities besides academics, skills, etc.
Mr. Ghimire shared his educational experience, and also shared that he never paid a single penny for education. He always got successful in winning scholarships. He also shared about his research and work experience, degree, prizes, and awards as well. He asked participants to define the word scholarship. He then introduced them to different forms of scholarship and also about the types of Upper-level grants & Elites.
Likewise, He introduced the difference between CV and Resume and also informed participants about the components of writing a good CV and resume for even applying for a scholarship. The CV presents the full history of the academic credentials, and preparing a good CV is important. So he gave ideas on what to add and what to remove while making a CV. He also explained the chance of getting scholarships in bachelor’s, masters, and Ph.D. levels through the scholarship and grant pyramid.
Mr.Ghimire individually explained the prospects of getting scholarships in countries like the USA, Europe, Sweden, Denmark, New Zealand, Australia, etc. He also shared about the potential job-rich academic sectors, prospects. He also gave certain activities, to engage. He introduced the importance of writing Literature reviews. He said literature review is important as almost all undergrad and graduate school requires heavy literature review on any field and it is the part of the dissertation, thesis, proposal writing, grant application, etc. He gave an activity to review the literature given by him. He also suggested ways to write a good cover letter.
The discussion that was addressed about COVID 19 and its impact on the overall VISA and selection process was truly insightful. The participants got basic ideas on what to do next? He even took a real-time mock interview of one of the participants and highlighted strong points, and provided feedback and comments to improve speaking skills. He said that interviews and simulations are really necessary, and provided ideas on how to ace an interview. In addition to this, he also gave ideas on skills that are important to apply for scholarships which include technical skills, computer skills, data analysis, logistics, programming, etc. Skills can be anything from culinary skills to carpentry, farming to Barista, Media to Painting. Language skills are also important. He also gave ideas about Hot Topics and Job sectors in the Technical, Science, and Hospitality Line. Also, He highlighted some of the pros and cons of Nepali students studying abroad as his perspective.
The securing scholarship course provided an opportunity for the participants to reflect on their potential and abilities, get insights on what kind of scholarship they need to apply for, and also ways to prepare good documents while applying for scholarships abroad. The five hours course was able to reflect their perspective and ways to expand their horizon in terms of learning and also experience sharing. The course was very informative and there was amazing feedbacks shared by our participants.