The Future Nobel Laureate Scholarship program selected senior Bautista Vivanco, a double major in political science and economics, as the recipient of this award.
“It is a highly competitive scholarship open to all students of higher education in the world, with only 10 openings,” Vivanco said. “It involves working and collaborating with a cohort of high achieving students as well as classes and lessons in global and intercultural leadership.”
The requirements to be eligible to apply for the scholarship are that the student has to be enrolled at an institution of higher education and have “a deep willingness to work and study with people from diverse backgrounds,” Vivanco said.
To apply for this scholarship, Vivanco had to write and “submit a 200-word essay discussing a solution for a global problem and three letters of recommendation,” Vivanco said.
“I chose to encourage cultural exchanges to eliminate xenophobia and discrimination,” Vivanco said.
Vivanco submitted his application in May and later received an email detailing that he had been chosen to move further into the application process by participating in the interview process where he would meet with one of the faculty members.
“I had this interview the day of my birthday and I left the meeting disappointed as I thought I could have done much better,” Vivanco said. “However, a few weeks later, I received an email detailing that I was in fact awarded the scholarship. Happiest 20th of July of my life!”
Being awarded this scholarship is something that Vivanco believes will assist him with his future career.
“The dream of my life is to work as a diplomat for Argentina, a career path that involves a great deal of intercultural communication and cooperation,” Vivanco said. “I feel this scholarship will give me many tools that I will require to be successful in my professional life outside of Winthrop while also expanding my horizons of what I believe is achievable.”
“I found out about this scholarship through ONCA,” Vivanco said. “This one caught my attention as it was one of the few offered to International Students.”
According to Winthrop’s Office of Nationally Competitive Awards (ONCA) website, ONCA is located in Dinkins 222 and is a space on campus “where students can learn about and compete for awards, grants, and scholarships in both the undergraduate and graduate levels.”
“I believe that receiving this scholarship has been a game changer in my life,” Vivanco said.
“Participating in Nobel Week Dialogues is something I never even thought of as possible, so if I can accomplish this, the sky is the limit.”
