With new goals in mind for the upcoming semester, Nancy Eastwood, the new president of the BYUH Women’s Organization, shared how the one thing she loves about the group’s monthly luncheons is its purpose: to support the financial needs of students at BYUH.
One of the scholarship recipients, Sarah Acobera, a senior from the Philippines majoring in psychology and human resources, said she was grateful for the support because she really values the importance of gaining an education.
“My parents said this is the only thing they could give us as they didn’t have any material wealth. I didn’t want my parents paying for me.”
In order to provide for herself, Acobera said she would attend school in the Philippines from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and would work from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., getting very little sleep throughout the week. She said it was a blessing to be able to attend BYUH and to be a part of the I-WORK Program.
Another recipient, Jen Bilan, a senior from Hong Kong majoring in TESOL, shared her story on currently suffering from a chronic illness which caused her grades to drop. In hopes of not becoming a financial burden to her parents, Bilan took a break in being able to better support her health and work more in Hong Kong as an English teacher. She said she is now in a better position to continue her schooling.
Ivy Doringuez, a senior from the Philippines majoring in biomedicine, said she applied five times before becoming accepted to the BYUH I-WORK Program. She shared on how not being accepted at first was a blessing in disguise.
She said not being accepted gave her the opportunity to see how much her country needed better support in the medical world. She explained how she hopes to help those in need and feels BYUH gave her that support in achieving those goals.
According to Eastwood, the organization’s goal this year is to get the word out of the organization’s purpose of being a service organization, as well as giving back to the community. One action of service for the semester was providing new mom kits for student mothers. Another goal in mind is to raise enough money for 20 textbook scholarships, a goal she said the organization was able to meet last year.
All students are invited to attend the monthly luncheon and contribute to a $12 donation for lunch in which the proceeds will go into the textbook scholarship fund for BYU-Hawaii students in deep financial need.
The next Women’s Organization Luncheon is scheduled for Oct. 3 at 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Aloha Center Ballroom.