Bam thought her dreams had come true when she won a scholarship to the United World College in China. But she was forced to turn it down due to family financial problems. Bam refused to give up.
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Looking forward
Titapa Chaiyakiturajai
When one door closes, another one opens. Pajari Rodsawang (Bam) thought her dreams had come true when she won a scholarship to the United World College in China. But she was forced to turn it down due to family financial problems. Bam refused to give up. She continued to work hard and was rewarded with a scholarship to the prestigious Yale Young Global Scholars (YYGS) programme from Qooco.
YYGS is a two-week long summer programme for outstanding high school students held at Yale University in the US. It provides an opportunity to study in a community of exceptionally talented people, from fellow students to professors and guest speakers. At YYGS, Bam attended the Sustainable Development & Social Entrepreneurship session.
S Weekly met up with the intelligent 18-year-old at Qooco Office in Bangkok where she told us about the YYGS programme and her experience in the US.
Why were you interested in taking part in the YYGS programme?
Bam: I wanted to find out more about sustainable development. People in Thailand don’t know much about it. It’s an environmentally-friendly way of using science to develop society. That’s something I’m really interested in.
It was your first time in the US. Could you tell us about the experience?
Bam: It was definitely a culture shock. The way that Americans study is completely different from Thais. Here, students are expected to pay attention and just listen. But at Yale, I got the chance to express my opinions and embrace my interests. The language was also a problem. The subject matter was already hard enough. With English as my second language, it was twice as hard for me.
How did you adjust to the new study environment?
Bam: At first I stayed quiet. But the more I listened to others, the more I felt that my own opinions needed to be heard. It still took three to four days before I started speaking up.
What did you learn from the programme?
Bam: I learned a lot about climate change and how much humans are responsible for it. And we’re not really doing anything about it. It’s quite surprising to learn that I’m contributing to a problem that causes terrible things to happen to people in different parts of the world.
In what other ways did the programme benefit you?
Bam: I got to experience some of the different ways people look at the world. And it also gave me more confidence in myself. I feel like I’m capable of doing more.
Why did you have to turn down your invitation to study at United World College?
Bam: My family was going through some financial difficulties. The scholarship only covered 75 percent of the tuition fees. So we had to decide whether we wanted to use the money we had to cover the rest or to pay our bills. Even though it upset me a lot, I decided that my family had to come first. So I took a gap year instead. It turned out pretty well because I was able to learn more about myself.
Have you figured out what you’d like to do next?
Bam: My goal is to work with international police to fight human trafficking.
What's the one thing that you’re most proud of?
Bam: I’m most proud of my ability to overcome past difficulties. Having to reject the scholarship from UWC was hard. But I was able to get past that and move forward.
