Karina Iskandarova
American College of Thessaloniki
• Karina was born on August 6, 1994.
• Attends ACT on a 100% scholarship (by wining a scholarship competition).
• Successfully maintains a high GPA, a prerequisite for her full scholarship.
• She is a third - year International Relations student, and an active member of the ACT Student Government.
• She has initiated the successful collection of food and supplies both for the Thessaloniki's Homeless Shelter and the refugees in the city.
• She applied for the Humanity in Action scholarship (through the 'Humanity in Action', an international educational organization).
• She applied for the summer scholarship for young student leaders through the Fulbright institution
• Although she did not receive any of the two scholarships she was shortlisted to both and went through the interview process.
• She was a member of ACT's delegation to Paris Model UN last year.
• She was a member of the Drama Club.
• Participates in a research project in the Anatolia community, the Oral History Archives project led by the Bissell Library. She has received relevant training at the Historical Archives of Macedonia (Greece).
• She has interviewed older members of the Anatolia community on issues of greater interest in terms of the educational, social and cultural history of Thessaloniki.
Personal Statement
When I first arrived in Greece as a child in 1997, it was hard to integrate immediately and during my high school years I was being bullied as an 'outsider'. This social challenge, instead of generating negativity in me, created feelings of empathy towards people in need. As a college student and member of the student government at ACT, I initiated a successful charity drive for the refugees and homeless people in Thessaloniki. In 2016, I volunteered for several months for Amnesty International translating documents that concerned numerous refugees kept in jail illegally. In 2017, I was one among the shortlisted finalists from Greece for two programs. First it was the Fulbright summer program for undergraduate student leaders from Europe and second, for the Humanity in Action Fellowship program. Even though I did not gain these scholarships, I believe those candidacies defined my objectives for the future. That is, my active contribution to the community and especially those in need. Right now in Greece we face an important humanitarian challenge with the influx of a number of refugees and I am committed to assist through the various NGOs that are active in the region in order to accomplice social change.
