From the estate of Sara E. Matthews, scholarships are awarded annually to international students. Administered by International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) this scholarship is granted to deserving undergraduate international students of Sophomore or Junior standing at UC Santa Cruz to help with educational costs.
“This year, six applicants were awarded the scholarship due to the contributions they have made outside of the classroom to enhance campus internationalization,” Assistant Director of International Student Services, Adrienne Bergenfeld said. “We congratulate them and are grateful to support their endeavors at UCSC and beyond.”
Sara Matthews Scholarships, ranging from $1,000-$5,000 are offered for spring term. Eligible students can learn more by visiting the ISSS financing and scholarships webpage.
2021 Scholarship Recipients:
Can Huang – China
Major – Arts in Art & Design: Games & Playable Media
How will this scholarship help you further your education？
Part of this scholarship will be the fund for my future video game development. I will use it to purchase the video games development engine which I could not afford before. With the better development tool, the video games I create will be more skillful and ingenious. Other parts of this scholarship will help me to reduce my stress surrounding tuition.
What are your plans for the future (academically or professionally)?
My current plan is to develop small video games by myself and maybe get an internship in a famous video game company, learning how successful video games are made. My future goal is to become a game developer and build a video game studio. I want to make video games that influence the world and solve social problems, proving that video games are not just for entertainment, they can change the world and help it to be better.
Sayaka Kozuki – Japan
Major – Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology
How will this scholarship help you further your education?
It is an honor to be chosen as a recipient of such a prestigious scholarship. I am thinking of medical school as my post-graduation plan. In order to become a good candidate to be accepted, I need more hands-on clinical experience. Therefore, I will allocate the scholarship for the tuition to attend the EMT school.
What are your plans for the future (academically or professionally)?
My future plan is to become an otologist who will be advancing stem cell therapy for hearing loss. In order to achieve this goal, I am working as an undergraduate researcher at Shariati Lab, Institute for the Biology of Stem Cells.
Zirui Li – China
Major – Arts in Art & Design: Games & Playable Media
How will this scholarship help you further your education?
This scholarship will help me relieve financial stress, as well as purchase more tools and tutorials in order to better my digital drawing skills.
What are your plans for the future (academically or professionally)?
I have been watching a lot of elaborate art pieces by various artists, and I would like to try my best to catch up to them, as well as reading more history to attain more specific information on designing and make art pieces with more interesting details.
I will take this chance to better my portfolio while preparing for GRE, and I am planning to go to graduate school in order to gain the ability to be qualified for an internship, and hopefully get into one of the game companies after graduation.
Sophie Wolfe – Germany
Major – Psychology
How will this scholarship help you further your education?
Receiving this scholarship is not only an honor, but it will also help me cover some of my tuition. The cost of an American college education is high for me as an international student so this money will take at least a little pressure off. I hope to attend graduate school here in the US as well and I am so grateful for any kind of support I can get.
What are your plans for the future (academically or professionally)?
If I can make it happen I would love to do OPT after graduating UCSC and then start a new chapter of my journey in the US at grad school. My goal is to get into a clinical psychology program and find a career that will make it possible for me to support people with mental illness.
Shalom Yam – Hong Kong
Major – Economics/Mathematics (combined)
How will this scholarship help you further your education?
Growing up in Hong Kong, one of the major financial hubs in the world, I was deeply influenced to fall in love with the financial service industry. While majoring in Economics/Mathematics combined as my undergraduate degree, I look forward to breaking into the Investment Banking industry upon graduation. My goal is to not only excel as a woman banker but also to provide guidance to young women who are interested in the industry. In the long run, I also look forward to tackling the wealth distribution issue head-on due to my experience in serving the low-income communities as a Volunteer Income Tax Assistant. I wish to use my experience and knowledge in the finance industry to help individuals break the bond of poverty and thrive in a collective society through participating in programs like the SparkPoint Oakland Program.
What are your plans for the future (academically or professionally)?
With the help of the Sara Matthews Scholarship, an undergraduate degree in Economics/Mathematics at UC Santa Cruz is no longer unattainable. I get to take classes like ‘International Finance’ and ‘Security Markets and Financial Institutions’ to achieve my dream of establishing a career in the finance industry. With the help of this scholarship, I will be released from the stress of condensing my 2-year program and will have time to study and volunteer in social-conscious organizations to help usher changes in society. I also plan to join the field study program, held by the UC Santa Cruz Economics department, extending education outside of the classrooms. This coming summer, I will be joining Deloitte as a Tax Intern, utilizing this opportunity to apply what I have learned from class to the real world.
Tiffany Chen – Taiwan
Major – Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology
How will this scholarship help you further your education?
I am very thankful that I am a recipient of this scholarship because this is one of the rewarding moments for my hard work in academics. This scholarship will become my inspiration while pursuing higher education in the medical field. Also, it is a financial relief for my family, because this scholarship will alleviate some burden off my expensive college tuition. I will use this scholarship to make a head start in preparing for medical school applications and MCAT materials.
What are your plans for the future (academically or professionally)?
As an MCD Bio major, my current plans for academics are to keep learning, develop my knowledge in the biological sciences, and enjoy my time in college. Even though looking for a medical internship has become really hard during COVID-19, I will continue my search to gain more hands-on experience and explore the variety of physicians. Then, after college, I plan to attend medical school and become a physician that can lessen patients’ pain and prevent people from suffering in illness. I want to be helpful and contribute to society by making the world a better place to live in.