Educate YouMeWe's Mark Bell Scholarship

When is the last time you did something for the first time?

It is as if everything you worked on which is yourself is summarized in college applications and you send it off like an arrow hoping to get a positive response.

And then when you do, a whole separate set of anxieties and unknowns arise.

Our scholars have all been applying and getting accepted and when the next steps of how to finance, schedule part time jobs and study time are now the challenge. 

We have four scholars in Nagoya. One studying online in Brazil. Two in the Philippines; one in college and the other finishing high school.

Shizuma is the oldest of 5 boys. His mother is a single mom and he entered into the care system for economic reasons. He has since officially left the care system which cut off his ability to receive government funding in order to help his mom with raising the other boys. In addition to the initial scholarship, we have sent his first tranche of tuition otherwise he would not be able to attend school. He is looking at a two year associates degree to become a Social Worker for other children like him. He continues to work part time at Saizeriya restaurant. When asked how he could repay us, we replied, "We are investing in you because we feel you are worth it. You do not need to pay anyone back. Just keep doing the best you can do."

Tsuyoshi has given us an update about his degree in Urban Development at University of Arizona. He is working with YouMeWe teaching English online to students in Brazil.

"Mid semester update: Dear Michael, It's time for the first uni update! These last weeks have been really challenging, and they passed so quickly! I can't believe it. It has been hard to adapt to the study routine and thank god I only took the units that I did. It has also been really fun! I have enjoyed all my classes (especially SBE). During these weeks I had to write a lot, read a lot of texts, watch a lot of lectures, and also do a lot of research. World religions taught me the beauty in believing. It taught me that there is a richness in detail and a lot of meaning behind each monument, each temple, and each sacred image. During Buddhism and Hinduism week (it was one religion per week) I could remember many details of the temples and shrines that we visited. Univ taught me that I can learn a lot by listening to people's stories. This course was a bit odd, since it's basically a course designed for us to understand the importance of the General education courses (World Religions was one of them, a humanist Gen ed)....Sustainable Built Environments (SBE) is definitely the most fun course. We started by going deep into Climate Change, the causes, the goals that the UN set for the countries, targets for companies, etc. We also learn a lot about research, since our industry relies a lot on studies so finding truthful information is fundamental. We are also learning about smart cities, eco buildings, transport systems, and water usage. In order for us to build a sustainable city or project, we need to do it smartly, so we need to take into account every aspect and use all available information to do it properly. It's really cool to learn this because right now there are many people and nations doing that so we always see examples from around the world. Even though I tend to complain about not having time, I am enjoying this hectic routine. I can feel my brain getting more stimulated than usual. I can feel that my vocabulary and the way I express myself is getting sharper, and my writing has improved A LOT since I write so much every week for each course. In summary, I feel really proud of myself and also confident when I explain what I do to other people. Thank you so much for making this possible and I know that I am a really lucky man to have this. I will be forever grateful for this!

Lady in the Philippines is continuing with her degree while working part time for YouMeWe. Noel is finishing his last year of high school before starting a course in hospitality.

We have three more scholars in Nagoya two have yet to start school in April 2023 and one in April 2024.

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It was December 17th,2021 when Mark Bell wrote to me. "Hey Michael, I'd like to send support to one of your projects. Send me some info. Please.

We had a few exchanges, and I sent through the link to the scholarship project we had started but not been funded. He replied, "Thanks" and then on December 23rd I wrote, " Thank you so much for your incredible generosity. I wanted to reach out personally and thank you for the inaugural donation to start this program! It is much appreciated."

This year we named the scholarship program after Mark with his family's consent and equal generosity. In many ways the smile that Mark always had on his face now lives on the faces of these young scholars who literally have no one else to assist them in their dreams.

We thank you all for your help as we continue to live up to the example Mark set by getting this project started. By simply reaching out.

Thank you and Happy Holidays.

Regards,

Michael Clemons

YouMeWe Founder 

ADse

Lady

L

mester update from student at University of Arizona: Dear Michael, It's time for the first uni update! These last weeks have been really challenging, and they passed so quickly! I can't believe it. It has been hard to adapt to the study routine and thank god I only took the units that I did. It has also been really fun! I have enjoyed all my classes (especially SBE). During these weeks I had to write a lot, read a lot of texts, watch a lot of lectures, and also do a lot of research. World religions taught me the beauty in believing. It taught me that there is a richness in detail and a lot of meaning behind each monument, each temple, and each sacred image. During Buddhism and Hinduism week (it was one religion per week) I could remember many details of the temples and shrines that we visited. Univ taught me that I can learn a lot by listening to people's stories. This course was a bit odd, since it's basically a course designed for us to understand the importance of the General education courses (World Religions was one of them, a humanist Gen ed). There were a lot of texts and philosophical questions and this course was by far the easiest, since I feel that I am very in touch with my feelings and as you know, I am a very philosophical person hehe. Sustainable Built Environments (SBE) is definitely the most fun course. We started by going deep into Climate Change, the causes, the goals that the UN set for the countries, targets for companies, etc. We also learn a lot about research, since our industry relies a lot on studies so finding truthful information is fundamental. We are also learning about smart cities, eco buildings, transport systems, and water usage. In order for us to build a sustainable city or project, we need to do it smartly, so we need to take into account every aspect and use all available information to do it properly. It's really cool to learn this because right now there are many people and nations doing that so we always see examples from around the world. Even though I tend to complain about not having time, I am enjoying this hectic routine. I can feel my brain getting more stimulated than usual. I can feel that my vocabulary and the way I express myself is getting sharper, and my writing has improved A LOT since I write so much every week for each course. In summary, I am slaying this uni thing, and I feel really proud of myself and also confident when I explain what I do to other people. Thank you so much for making this possible and I know that I am a really lucky man to have this. I will be forever grateful for this!

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