Scholarship recipient Yolanda Bacani pays it forward.

Yolanda Bacani has been a supporter of the East-West Cener (EWC) for decades. Her connection to the organization began in the ‘60s, when she was a scholarship recipient herself. “I was awarded a scholarship—to study at the University of Hawaiʻi to obtain my master’s degree in counseling psychology,” she explains.

Today, Bacani is back in the Philippines, but her love for and support of EWC has never wavered. “The most rewarding and meaningful experience that I had at the East-West Center,” she says, “was being part of a community of students from all over the United States, Asia, and the Pacific. We would socialize, and talk, and share.”

This closeness, she says, forged deep friendships that have continued to this day. Bacani explains that everyone she met was unique; each person brought their own culture, background, and traditions to the group. But at the same time, she says, “We realized that we all share the same common humanity; the same dreams, ideas, pains, and sorrows. It was a life- changing experience for me.”

Bacani says that being an East-West Center scholarship recipient allowed her the opportunity to gain a global perspective at an early age. It is an experience that she believes everyone should have, which is why she urged her own children to learn about other cultures, and why she and her husband created the Senen and Yolanda Bacani Fellowships.

Bacani says that she hopes those who receive the fellowship or other scholarship support will utilize the opportunity to broaden their horizons and learn how to be citizens of the world and experience the “wonderful realization of their dreams.”