2008 Graduating Class

Monica Balan
Romania
UWC of the Adriatic, Italy
Middlebury College
As a pre-architecture major, my experiences at UWC and Middlebury have challenged my values and my understanding of architecture. I was able to discover the field from different cultural perspectives while studying at a French architecture university and interning at a firm in Rome. The study of such subjects as geography, physics, economics, and mathematics gave me a wider understanding of the field. Being
a Davis scholar has undoubtedly made an indispensable contribution to my future.

Karolis Balciunas
Lithuania
UWC of the Atlantic
Harvard University
Two years at Atlantic College made me understand the importance of an uncompromised appreciation for people around me. Harvard allowed me to turn this gift into a true passion. The two most important periods of my life left little doubt in my mind that truly significant achievements are only possible by engaging and inspiring the brightest minds to take collective action focused on accomplishing revolutionary results.

Angela Maria Barrett
USA
Pearson UWC, Canada
Colby College
As a Davis Scholar, my horizons have expanded immensely. This step on my path to becoming a psychologist has taught me that human diversity, with all of its complexities, is our greatest strength. The best treatment approaches build on this strength. I wish to explore this within the mental health field, building bridges between ethno- and biomedical beliefs. As I leave Colby, I am ready to embrace the world.

Itamar Bar-Zakay
Israel
Li Po Chun UWC, Hong Kong
Princeton University
Looking back, my UWC days are strangely dreamy, impressing me as both the most formative experience in my life and the least relevant, because little outside those two years resembles them. At Princeton, I majored in philosophy, loved it and grew tired of it, started and couldn’t stop practicing Capoeira, and even became an officer at an eating club, to my great surprise. I hope the coming years will be as involving and even more exciting than those that started at UWC.

Almas Bektassov
Kazakhstan
Mahindra UWC, India
Westminster College
Westminster is a great, small-community school with an almost personal approach to each student, regardless of whether he or she is an international or domestic student. When people have such an attitude, you just want to give the same back. Westminster taught me how to be and prepared me for the real world. And, with its help, I believe I have succeeded. 

Husain Bengali
India
UWC of South East Asia, Singapore
Cornell University
I will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in operations research and industrial engineering. Some highlights of my time at university include involvement in the Cornell Cricket Club (as a member, secretary, and, eventually, president) and a six-month co-op with Microsoft. Following graduation, I will be joining Microsoft’s entertainment and devices division as a solution manager in Redmond, near Seattle.

Ishna Berry
India
UWC of South East Asia, Singapore
Princeton University
Apart from my study of economics and finance, I have invested much time and effort in extra-curricular activities. After serving as president of the South Asian Students Association and Princeton South Asian Theatrics, I feel I have contributed toward increasing awareness of South Asian culture on campus. I hope to continue to promote diversity in the future, as I embark on a career in Wall Street.

Basudha Bhattarai
Nepal
Waterford KaMhlaba UWC,
Swaziland
Hood College
UWC was a life-changing experience, and I felt that nothing could touch me the same way. Now, closer to graduation, I look back, and I realize that I will remember Hood College with just as much admiration. At Hood I learned to question the answers and learn in a truly unique way. My year abroad in Spain added value to my learning and my undergraduate experience. I am grateful to Drs. Stratton and Farreras for the unconditional support and encouragement.

Aubrey Bodden
Cayman Islands
UWC-USA
Cornell University
I came to Cornell homesick for UWC and thinking that the best part of my life had ended. Instead, what I found here has both challenged and encouraged me to grow in all aspects of my life. I leave Ithaca confident that I can and will carry on the UWC ideals and mission with increased passion.

Kristine Boehm
Durando
Guatemala
UWC-USA
Harvard College
After graduation, I am looking forward to sharing new adventures with my amazing family and wonderful friends from all over the world. I would like to thank you all for your support and love. Whether I go back to Guatemala or explore other countries first, I know that “Gottes Hände halten mich, gleich dem Sternlein in der Bahn, keins fällt je aus Gottes Plan” / God’s hands hold me, like they hold the stars up in the sky; none will fall outside of His plan.

Nienke Boer
South Africa
Waterford KaMhlaba UWC,
Swaziland
Princeton University
These years have been filled with challenges — I’ve learned German and French, met incredible professors, co-founded a column on sexual health, and even taken belly-dancing classes. Studying in Berlin, I learned to appreciate lingering over meals and wine and having a balcony in summer. At Princeton, I am a peer academic advisor and a sexual health advisor. I work backstage during theatrical productions and volunteer at an animal shelter. I hope to work in Africa next year, and then return to academia to study African literature.

Makwach Bol
Kenya
Li Po Chun UWC, Hong Kong
Earlham College
It’s been a wonderful journey, full of surprises. I’m greatly privileged and indebted to UWC and Earlham College for the gift of education. I’ve been blessed with skills, knowledge, and invaluable experiences, including being a resident assistant for three years and playing varsity soccer. Through biology and chemistry courses I have learned some of the state-of-the-art skills and tools necessary to fight diseases and to find cures or treatments for enzymatic disorders, which will be valuable to me in graduate school.

Melvin Brown
Jamaica
UWC of the Atlantic, Wales
Westminster College
My first year at UWC saw me wrestling with the problem of how to reconcile the ideal of changing the world with the practical obstacles I would undoubtedly face. It was not until the end of my final year there and my start at Westminster that the simple answer came to me: Start small. I am deeply grateful to the Davis Foundation, the UWC Movement, and Westminster College for providing me with the opportunity and the momentum to start small.

Oleg Buldakov
Russia
UWC of the Atlantic, Wales
Lake Forest College
I’ve been a member of the International Student Organization and the United Black Association. I was treasurer 06-07 and president 07-08 of ISO. Under my leadership, ISO won the Best Program of the Year award for our International Week event. I also was on the swimming and diving team for two years, and I received an Academic All-Midwest Conference Award. I plan to work for an international investment corporation and earn an MBA. I hope to use the knowledge I’ve gained abroad at home in Russia.

Anita Buragohain
India
Mahindra UWC, India
Colby College
From the rooftops of UWC to the steps at Colby — the experience forms an incredible montage of dreaming, discussing, and doing. Learning has led me to fantastic places, and in all these wanderings, I have delighted in finding myself. I am indebted to my professors who, with their spirit, support, and excellence, have illuminated the way. I leave Colby, inspired, with majors in mathematics and religious studies. Thank you, Mr. Davis, for giving flight to my dreams and me the heart to chase them.

Orchid W. Burnside
Bahamas
Pearson UWC, Canada
Vassar College
I discovered that the liberal arts college is not so liberal, although Vassar offered many opportunities, most importantly the Junior Year Abroad Program, in which I participated in Paris. I also volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, ESL tutoring, blood drives, and cultural organizations, such as the African Students’ Union and the Caribbean Students’ Alliance. My plans for the future are infinite, yet not concrete.