Igor OSIPCHUK

The astronaut Heidi Stefanyshyn-Piper and the world famous writer Paulo Coelho attended the ceremony of rewarding winners of the scholarship programme of Victor Pinchuk Fund ZAVTRA.UA

The ceremony of awarding winners of the scholarship programme of Victor Pinchuk Fund "ZAVTRA.UA". started on board the world's largest aeroplane "Mriya". The students (201 persons all together), dressed up and smiling, were appearing to festive music on the grounds of the "Gostomel" aerodrome (a base of the world famous Antonov Aeronautical Scientific and Technical Complex, located not far from Kiev). It was eight o'clock in the evening, it snowed and the snow-flakes glistened in the rays of several dozens of spotlights looking toward the sky. Carried by the fountain of light, students coming from 14 leading higher education institutions of the country, made their way toward the huge hangar. The young people were met by famous people: entrepreneur and art patron Victor Pinchuk, his wife Yelena Franchuk, academician Yaroslav Yatskiv, Ukrainian-American astronaut  Heidi Stefainishin-Piper, Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho, his Ukrainian colleague Andrey Kurkov, whose books are published all over the world, first cosmonaut of the independent Ukraine Leonid Kadenyuk, President's Adviser Oleg Rybachuk and many other representatives of the country's intellectual and political elite.

In the hangar, next to the huge aeroplane "Ruslan", the organisers installed a stage and an audience hall. Everyone took their seats and academician Yaroslav Yatskiv, head of the Trustee Council of the programme ZAVTRA.UA, appeared on the stage. His short welcoming speech was followed by the thunderous "Gaudeamus". The participants stood up and sang the song with inspiration. And when the art patron Viktor Pinchuk came upon the stage, the audience burst out with applause.

"Many of you, perhaps, saw a photo made in the early 60s: a boy Billy Clinton, the future President of the USA, is shaking hands with the then President John Kennedy, he said. I am impressed how symbolic this photo is. In a sense, that it is important to give a helping hand in time, to help young talented people. Here is an example, a situation I came across with several days ago in Davos. After one working day of the forum that took place there, I invited for dinner George Soros and a young gifted businessman, a legal Ukrainian millionaire, a good acquaintance of mine. He came up to Soros and said: "I'd like to thank you. Fifteen years ago you gave me money to buy a single ticket to America. I graduated from Stanford University, then from the Harvard University, worked in several companies..." This young man returned to Ukraine, became a prosperous businessman. And the way to success was paved with money for the ticket allocated by Soros Fund. This is to illustrate when financial assistance became not very significant though very important component of what we call good luck. Hearing the businessman's story, Soros was obviously touched, it even seemed to me that I notices tears in his eyes."

In twenty minutes Victor Pinchuk named that businessman - it was Kirill Dmitriev. He happened to be one of the ceremony guests. He was accompanied to the stage with applause.

"Now I can see why I love scholarships," Kirill Dmitriev said, smiling, "and love, intellect even better. It can bring much more benefit than oil and gas. And now I'd like to express my wish to the students. While in the US, I happened to see cows pasturing in winter: the pasture was fenced with electric barriers along the perimeter. As an animal bumped into the barrier it got a discharge of current and then was afraid to approach that place. The barriers were switched off in summer but the cows were all the same afraid to leave the earlier established frames. I'd like to wish you not to be afraid to overcome barriers!"

"I wish you to find your way and to follow it", Vicotr Pinchuk added. "Don't fear to be unlike the others. A good example for you is Heidi Stefanyshyn-Piper. A daughter of an emigrant, she graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and became an astronaut. Her success is an embodiment of not only the American but the Ukrainian dream as well. Paulo Coelho may serve a similar example. He has had a very complicated destiny. You know that in his life the writer had seen drugs and prison but he was able to overcome all this, to leave all bad things in the past and to become one of the most best-selling authors in the world. There is one more reason I invited him here -- because he succeeds in describing very well how people achieve their dream. He knows how to write about difficult things simply and easily. I confess that I have read all novels published by Coelho.

"Follow your mission", Heidi Stefanyshyn-Piper wished the students. She told them that her father (he was born and grown up in Lvov region) wanted his daughter to become a doctor. But she liked Maths, technical subjects and when it was time for her to choose a higher education institution, she stated that she would become an engineer. Her father respected her opinion. Education is expensive at the Massachusetts Technological Institute. Heidi was assisted with a scholarship from the USA Navy.

Paulo Coelho, resorting to metaphors, which he always does in his books, compared the way to success with climbing a mountain and wished the students not to stop half-way. And, when reaching the top, to share their experience with other youths. He also mentioned that  his next book would touch upon the Chernobyl tragedy subject.

Winners in every disciplines thanked the Victor Pinchuk Fund with couplets and funny verses. They spoke and sang lively and cheerfully - there were many among the students who had leadership qualities. Indeed, the selection of winners took into consideration not only scientific and creative projects but personal traits of the candidates as well.

When asked by journalists to give a formula of success, astronaut Stefanyshyn-Piper answered briefly: "Study and work hard". Victor Pinchuk added: "Another thing that matters in every business is a good luck". He told the journalists that the amount of the scholarship won within the framework of "Zavtra.UA" programme is 500 hryvnias a month. For some this financial support would prove meaningful, for others it might be - insignificant. However, it is not only the material aspect that matters but the fact that the scholarship is an impetus to study and to achieve success in life.

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