Discovering more with a SILC grant

September 7, 2016

The Student Intellectual Life Committee (SILC) supports student-initiated projects, professional development opportunities, and student research. It awards small grants every month to the American University of Central Asia (AUCA) students.

Last academic year SILC gave grants to 25 sophomores, 24 juniors, and 13 seniors. Since freshmen do not have a reliable GPA and the committee needs an overall GPA for the application, SILC does not give grants to freshmen. Seniors are ineligible in their second semester generally, on the other hand, SILC has given grants to some seniors in a few special cases for their academic development and senior thesis. 

Behruz Ayubov, a sophomore in the Applied Mathematics and Informatics at AUCA talks about his grant from SILC.

«This past summer, I attended the International Youth Forum in Belgrade, organized by the European Youth Parliament in Serbia and supported by the German OSCE Chairmanship 2016. The main part of the forum consisted of Committee work, Global Village, and the General Assembly. Together with five delegates from a variety of countries, I was in the Committee on Foreign Affairs. We had three days of teambuilding and fruitful discussions about the current conflicts and unsolved problems of the Nagorno – Karabakh region. A region where Armenian and Azerbaijani people are living in fear of military attacks and general unrest mainly because of the border and ethnic issues. At the General Assembly, my committee presented a resolution to this problem, which was debated and eventually passed in a parliamentary vote by the delegates.

I learned so many things from the forum in the global village: I met young, fresh-minded people from around the world, I increased our mutual understanding and respect, and I improved my communication and leadership skills.

Since I am from Tajikistan, I was one of three representatives from Central Asia among European and Western countries. I was really honored to represent Central Asia, and furthermore, I was glad to share about AUCA and Kyrgyzstan with all the delegates at the event.

Attending this conference would have been impossible for me if I had not be financially supported by the Student Intellectual Life Committee. I highly appreciate the kind generosity of SILC as well as the support of my professors, both of which helped me explore myself beyond Central Asia and discover new and different things». 

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