Overseas Students visit Ascot

Three young post-graduate scholars were the guests of the Rotary Club of Ascot for the first race meeting of the flat season at Ascot Racecourse. The scholars are all receiving Rotary Scholarships to allow them follow a relevant postgraduate course of their choice in a foreign country. The Racecourse kindly provided complimentary admission for the scholars, none of whom had ever been racing before. They were accompanied by a small group of Rotarians and partners from the Ascot Rotary Club.

Scholars (Front, L to R) Liana Del Papa, Emiko Inoue and Keilah Jacques with John Blake (Head of Sales and Marketing at Ascot Racecourse) and accompanied by members of the Rotary Club of Ascot

In the evening, the visitors attended the Rotary Club meeting, where they each gave a talk about the courses they are following in the UK, and how they hoped to use the knowledge and experience they are gaining in order to create a better world. Over 40 Rotarians and partners were present, who took a keen interest the presentations.

First to speak was Liana Del Papa, an Italian-Canadian, now living in New Jersey. Her special area of interest is the consequences of immigration, and particularly forced migration and the plight of stateless orphans. She was followed by Emiko Inoue from Tokyo, whose interest is development, and who is following a course entitled “Public Policy”. The final speaker was Keilah Jacques from Dallas, who has studied Social Work in the USA, and is studying Sociology at Oxford.

After thanking the speakers, President Ian Valentine of the Rotary Club of Ascot, told the meeting “Not many people know that Rotary is the largest private source of scholarship funding in the world, with over $500M awarded since the programme began. Over 1000 ambassadorial scholarships have been awarded this year alone, and over 100 ambassadorial scholars are presently studying in the UK, 10 of whom are located in the Thames Valley area. The Thames Valley Rotary Clubs intend themselves to award such a scholarship for the academic year 2009-10 to send a local student overseas. Suitably qualified candidates who would be interested to learn more about this opportunity should contact their local Rotary Club.”