“The Path to Knowledge”: How an educational trip to the United States for Children of Heroes went

Every big dream starts with small steps. For six teenage girls — beneficiaries of the Children of Heroes Charity Fund — an exciting motivational trip to the United States of America became such a step.

The initiative, called “The Path to Knowledge,” is part of the Fund’s long-term strategy to support children who aspire to enter top-ranked US schools, colleges and universities. Its goal is not only to introduce the children to the world’s leading educational institutions, but also to inspire them to pursue quality education as a foundation for personal success and building a strong Ukraine.

The idea of the project came from the founder of the Fund, Dan Pasko, who himself went through a difficult path to education at Harvard Business School.

The participants of the trip are girls who, despite a deep personal loss, demonstrate incredible strength of spirit, thirst for knowledge, and confident command of the English language.  On this important trip, they were accompanied by the Fund’s CEO Tetiana Novytska, co-founder Valeria Abdal, and Ukrainian TV host and blogger Anatoliy Anatolich.

The trip began in Boston, a city that is rightly called the educational heart of America. The first stop was the Harvard Club of Boston, where the girls talked to Yulia Lemesh, the founder of Ukraine Global Scholars, an initiative that has been helping Ukrainian students from low-income families receive full scholarships to the world’s best schools and colleges for over 10 years.

The next location was Harvard Business School. The tour was conducted by Dan Pasko, a graduate of the school and founder of the Fund.  In addition to a fascinating tour of the business school, the participants visited the Harvard University campus, where the oldest editions of Ukrainian books are kept, met Ukrainian students, and met with a prominent Ukrainian historian, Professor Serhiy Plokhiy. Another memorable moment of the day was a short lecture on entrepreneurship given by a Harvard Business School professor.

The next stop was the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), one of the world’s most renowned universities in the fields of innovation, technology, biotechnology, economics, and engineering.

Here, the girls had a valuable conversation with an admission officer, a representative of the admissions committee, who spoke about the application process, selection criteria, and advice for applicants from other countries.

They also visited MIT.nano, a state-of-the-art research center that conducts research in the areas of artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, and robotics. It was a unique opportunity to see how the science of the future is created.

The final stop of the educational expedition was a visit to Yale University in New Haven. This elite university greeted the girls with the silence of ancient libraries and an atmosphere of deep respect for knowledge. Communication with students and teachers helped them to feel part of this academic world and to realize that the doors to such prestigious institutions could be open to them.

These few days in the United States were not just a trip for the Fund’s beneficiaries, but a real rethinking of their own capabilities. They saw with their own eyes how world-class education is organized and felt that their dreams could become a reality.

“My father gave his life for Ukraine. And I will do everything to make it better. This is my path,” said one of the girls”. 

These girls are our future. They strive to get the best education to return home and rebuild the country for which their parents gave their lives. 

The Children of Heroes Charity Fund believes that educated Ukrainians are the key to success and development of a strong state. This trip is only the first step in the realization of the Fund’s mission: to educate a generation that will be able to rebuild, develop and change Ukraine for the better.