On March 8, International Women’s Day is celebrated around the world to honor international women who contribute to their communities.
Here in Bakersfield, the day is celebrated by giving awards and four college scholarships, including two scholarships to Bakersfield College students, at a dinner at The Seven Oaks Country Club.
Sazuku Itoh, a Japanese liberal arts major at BC and a recipient of one of the scholarships, was “surprised and nervous” at the idea of getting the scholarship in front of people at a dinner that she describes as “serious” and a “big deal.”
Yet, she is “very happy” to be honored.
When applying for the scholarship, she found it easy to write about herself.
She said, “It was easy to write about myself. It was easy to tell them why I needed the scholarship. I can just be honest and never lie in it.” She preferred the focus on her character and story, to other scholarships, which focuses on her financial situation. In her application she thanked both her biological parents and house parents from her time as an exchange student for their support.
Once Itoh earns her Associate Degree at BC, she plans on majoring in economics. She plans on applying to “big company” jobs in Japan. She also has many ideas for small businesses, which she describes as “things in her head.”
Joyce Vina, the second BC student to receive the scholarship went through an “emotional” time writing the essay for the award. When writing her essay she recalled the “painful” moments in adjusting to a new culture. She said, “It was difficult living alone, to be far away from your family, from anything familiar. To remember all the painful things, it was filled with emotions to actually write the essay.”
Vina calls the scholarship “wonderful” and “amazing”. Despite the emotional process she found the essay easy to write, saying, “you just have to think it over what happened.”
She said, “I was really glad that to be able to get it, after all I’ve been through it’s quite uplifting to get the scholarship.” She, like Itoh, was surprised to get the scholarship.
Two California State University Bakersfield students also were awarded scholarships. Their names are Shakira Achuthan and Nanko Morimoto.
Achuthan is majoring in Psychology and plans on helping educate the people in her home country of Malawi. She feels that the scholarship will help her in these goals.
This was Morimoto’s first scholarship and she was “very happy” to be awarded the scholarship.
Shohreh Rahman, the International Students Counselor at BC and volunteer for International Women’s Day, believes that the scholarships are an important part of the Women’s Day celebration in Bakersfield.
Being a volunteer with the event from its time in Bakersfield, her goal “from day one” was to create the scholarships.
She was “very excited” when the scholarships were created in 2010.
She believes that international students were an important part of the community for the organization to honor.
She said, “There are so many students that are needy and hard working, and international.
“They pay out of state tuition. It is really to recognize their hard work. It’s nice to award them.”
International Women’s day also honors other international women who have contributed to their communities in categories like education, social work, and the arts.