Stetson gave 4 Ukrainians scholarships. The university is better for it, says professor

DELAND − For Ukrainians, there is a division: Life before Feb. 24, 2022, and life after.

Veronika Shchur and three of her Stetson University roommates, all of them from Ukraine, contend with that on a daily basis − even from nearly 6,000 miles away.

Russia's full-scale invasion of their homeland, now nearly one year ago, weighs on Shchur, Yana Verbova, Yuliia Balan and Genevia Gayden every day, even as they scurry to and from class, complete assignments and assimilate to an American college town.

Shchur was in Kyiv, the capitol, when Russian bombs started exploding across Ukraine's cities and Russian tanks encroached a sovereign nation's borders.

"Your parents are waking up your sisters, telling them to take their favorite toys. You are getting medicine, documents, money you have and you are running to a bomb shelter and you don’t know if you can return home because Russians are bombing everything they see," Shchur said in a recent interview with the four students on campus.

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Within a week, Shchur's family fled Ukraine. And before long, Shchur and one of her sisters moved to Texas. Last spring she and her three roommates learned of a full-ride Stetson scholarship created to help displaced Ukrainian students.

Elizabeth Plantan, assistant professor of political science, was among the professors and administrators behind last year's initiative to bring the four Ukrainian students to Stetson.

"It came from a position of wanting to do something. To not feeling like we were helpless in this situation, that we could do something to help Ukraine and invest in the future of Ukraine," Plantan said.

Plantan said the Ukrainians are "some of the best students I've ever had," and that Stetson is a better place because of their presence.

"We gained so much from having them here, internationalizing the university and showcasing our commitment to global citizenship," she said. "I think there has been a reframing ... thinking of this less as 'this is charity' and thinking more about the fact that this is a partnership that we hope we will maintain throughout time with Ukraine."

To Learn More:Background on Stetson's Ukraine project

The university announced the scholarships will be renewed for another year, with all four students planning to return in 2023-2024.

School officials are now fundraising, with a goal of $100,000. The university will absorb the remaining costs.

Genevia Gayden wanted to fight back, 'to protect Ukraine'

The students all arrived together on Aug. 9, when they started orientation. The university decided to have the Ukrainians live together in one apartment − each has her own room − so they might have a respite from the culture shock.

"I think it's better for all of us that we understand that we are not alone," said Gayden, the only first-year student of the four. "... This homesickness and loneliness would be much worse, but here we get an entire apartment speaking Ukrainian 24-7, which I’d say does contribute to our mental health in a very positive way."

Gayden is from Kyiv. Gayden's family is from eastern Ukraine, the Luhansk region occupied by the Russians.

During a joint interview with the four students, Gayden was the most outspoken, reminding Americans that while the full-scale war started in 2022, Russia's conflict with Ukraine goes back to 2014 with the annexation of Crimea and other regions.

Gayden's grandparents have lived in Luhansk under Russian occupation.

"They have been living in this state where there is military vehicles … no internet sometimes or being turned off, or messengers being blocked. With people with guns going in the streets," Gayden said. "It has been going on for some people for a very long time. For me, this entire theme of war in Ukraine has been going on since I was in middle school."

Earlier on, Gayden studied acting and considered a career in the arts. As the war was starting, she said she wanted to join the fight.

"I actually wanted to go to the military. I actually wanted to fight back, to protect Ukraine," Gayden said. But health issues prevented that. So Gayden has taken on other jobs, including website design, teaching and working for the government.

In DeLand Gayden is studying political science. Gayden's father, a former diplomat, is Ukraine's deputy minister of youth and sports.

Getting involved in politics underscores a grim takeaway from the war with Russia.

"Right now in Ukraine, every single person has at least an acquaintance a friend, a family member or a distant acquaintance who has been killed in this war," Gayden said. "And this is such a huge trauma for the entire population of the country which cannot be reversed and cannot be undone in any way."

Gayden wants the world, and Americans particularly, to see Ukraine as a democracy fighting for its very existence and paying a "very high price for that."

Gayden's career goals are not yet crystal clear.

"My one objective is wherever I am, whatever I am doing, even if I don’t return to Ukraine, like if I stay to study (at Stetson) for three more years, for example, to still contribute to the effort, to the war effort in some way possible." Gayden said. "... Everything is uncertain, and I think it is fine to not have a set plan. I think it’s fine just to see where life takes you."

Yuliia Balan learns of air raids and texts her parents: 'Please hide'

Balan, who is from Ternopil, a western Ukraine city, was a student at a university in Lviv, but she was in London for an exchange program. She learned of the war and called home.

"My parents were not picking up and I was, of course, concerned. All of the months I was living in London, I was stressed and I didn’t know what was going on," she said.

Her family remained in Ukraine, going back and forth to the bomb shelter, where there was no phone service.

"The situation has worsened with the winter season when the rockets started flying on the electrical infrastructure and now we have power outages," she said. "We can have, like, electricity for three hours a day just so people can cook their food, do their laundry, the most crucial stuff."

Being seven time zones away is "concerning," she said.

When she learns of air raids, she texts them: "Are you going to the bomb shelter? Please hide."

Balan said Ukraine is a "strong nation that can cope with any difficulties, but we need help from the international community," including weapons systems to protect its people.

"My individual hope," she said, "is that I will be able to graduate with a diploma in my major … political science. And in the future, I can get a job that will be connected to helping Ukraine to rebuild after the war."

Yana Verbova: Ukrainians 'will never give up'

Verbova is from Chernivtsi, a city in the Carpathian mountain range not far from the Romanian border.

In Chernivtsi, she studied dentistry at highly rated Bukavinian State University. At Stetson, she is a health sciences major.

The war left her "extremely scared," she said.

"It is impossible to study, to live, to do all of the necessary things we do every day. It’s just terrible," she said. "You go to the bomb shelter and you don’t know if you’re going to come back."

In July, her family sent her to stay with an old family friend in Deltona. The family had hosted her father when he was an exchange students decades earlier. From there, she learned of the Stetson Ukraine initiative and applied.

Verbova said her goal is the same as all Ukrainians: to end the war.

"Because Ukrainians are such a nation where they are always … resilient, they will never give up," she said. "So I hope the war will end soon, because it has been for so long."

She believes her mission is to gain knowledge so she can return home and help Ukraine after the war ends.

Veronika Shchur: 'It's not getting any better'

Shchur, an economics major from Kyiv, not only studies at Stetson, but is also taking online classes at her Ukraine university. And she works.

Gayden chimed in: "I don't think Veronika ever sleeps."

Staying busy helps Shchur avoid thinking about the war all the time.

"Here at Stetson, we have the opportunity to focus and think about something else, to study and to, you know, not get distracted from all these terrible things that are happening in Ukraine," she said. "It’s important to remember even though you don’t see as much news as it was in the beginning of the war, it hasn’t become any better. There are still attacks all the time and it’s not getting better."

Shchur said she would ultimately enjoy serving as an economic adviser to the United Nations, as well. At Stetson, Shchur is getting a taste of that by participating in the university's Model U.N. program.

Like her roommates, Shchur said she intends to take the knowledge she gains at Stetson and put it to good use at home.

"Ukraine definitely needs help with economics after the war," she said, "and it’s just nice to have the opportunity to study economics at Stetson in the U.S. the world’s leading country."

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Stetson's 4 Ukrainian students worry about war, prepare for life after