Six Nominees, Six Winners

Last Thursday the Ostroh Academy National University hosted an awards ceremony for the winners of the stipend from The Day ’s Editor-in-Chief Larysa Ivshyna. Our readers could follow most of the contest among the young intellectuals of Ostroh on these pages. It will be recalled that the contest jury nominated six students for the stipend: Larysa ANTOSHCHUK, Pavlo BULHAK, Oleh KRYKAVSKY, Yana KUTKO, Lina OSTAPCHUK, and Tetiana POPOVA. In the final stage of the contest they filled out a special questionnaire, its results carried in the February 26 Ukrainian and Russian issues of The Day.

Before naming the contest winners, Mrs. Ivshyna noted that rather than simplify the choice of the winner, the questionnaire complicated it further still, leaving the jury no choice but to award the stipend from The Day’s editor-in-chief to all six nominees. This was done before a packed audience of lecturers and students, who were obviously nonplused by this decision. Aside from stipends for the first two months — a monthly UAH 100 to be paid throughout the year — the winners also received sets of the two first books from The Day’s Library, daily planners bearing The Day’s logo, and club badges. Yana Kutko, editor of The Ostroh Academy newspaper, also received a radio receiver for the purposes of the recently created correspondent office of The Day at the academy. One of the winners, Oleh Krykavsky, was not present for the awards ceremony, since he is currently doing an internship in Verkhovna Rada. He will soon be able to collect his stipend at The Day’s editorial office.

Speaking of her motives for founding the stipend, Ms. Ivshyna noted that many things develop in the wrong way in our society because an overwhelming majority of politicians and public figures often compete in things that are not very good. Meanwhile, when Ukrainians switch to contests in valor to determine who can make things more interesting, beautiful, and better, everything will take a turn for the better. And, as Mrs. Ivshyna put it, perhaps “our small step in this direction” will inspire somebody else to found a stipend or do something of the kind, since “we have many places where one can put one’s goodwill to good service.”

For The Day’s editor-in-chief the stipend for the Ostroh Academy students is a special way to express her gratitude to those people who helped her at one time or another — her teachers, university professors, her mother, and grandmother. Maybe in the future some of the current stipend winners will found their own stipends. That the stipend from The Day’s editor-in-chief is a good example to follow became obvious that same day, when Rivne Oblast State Administration Chairman Mykola Soroka announced his decision to increase the stipends.

P.S. That same day Ostroh received Ukraine’s Defense Minister Yevhen Marchuk, who, as part of his working visit, stopped at the Ostroh Boarding Lyceum, which offers applied military and physical training, and also addressed the Ostroh Academy students. Read further on his visit in the coming issues of Den’/The Day.

IMPRESSIONS

Lina OSTAPCHUK:

“It was also a pleasure to receive the stipend from The Day’s editor-in-chief because the name of this newspaper sounds in a special way within the walls of our academy. This is like a quality mark. Meanwhile, the chance to see one’s articles in The Day is a powerful stimulus.”

Tetiana POPOVA:

“My life credo is to help people. When you do this, you never think whether you will be thanked or not. And suddenly someone does an even greater good onto you. And you begin to think that it is worth living for such moments.”

Larysa ANTOSHCHUK:

“I’m amazed that all six nominees received stipends from The Day’s editor-in-chief. To me it seems a major stage in our life and professional development, especially for those who link their future with journalism.”

Pavlo BULHAK:

“My credo is not to live for the moment but always think about the future and try to make this future as good as possible. For me the fact that we have won the stipends is a good sign that we are heading in the right direction. It is very important to receive a confirmation of this from someone who has already achieved high professional respect.”

Yana KUTKO:

“When you are about to choose your way in life it is very important to know whether it is worth going that way or not. What if a person wants to become a journalist but is not talented enough? I agree with Pavlo that this stipend showed to the people who have chosen this path that it is the right one.”

Ihor PASICHNYK, Ostroh Academy Rector:

“When awarding the stipends to our students I felt proud to hear how these young people picture their future. We heard five patriots. But I think they expressed the opinion of the other patriots who study in the Ostroh Academy. That they have become patriots and that Ukraine has patriots at all is also due to the significant efforts of The Day and Larysa Ivshyna in particular. Unfortunately, the term new Ukrainians is applied to people who have robbed Ukraine and continue to do so. I think this term should instead be applied to the people who study at our academy.”