The Pre-Collegiate Program of Yangon admits students based on the size of their potential and not their bank account. Myanmar students of all classes and creeds join us after they graduate from high school, learning to scrutinize their attitudes and examine their communities through on-campus courses and field trips throughout the country. We also help our students gain admission and scholarships to top liberal arts colleges in the USA and around the world so that they can learn to apply their own observations, evaluations, and empathy to create positive change in Myanmar.
PCP was established in 2003 to address Myanmar's dire educational and political situation. There was no place in the country to get a broad education which prepared people to address national issues; in short, to be citizens. Bright young people needed to go abroad to pursue these kinds of education, so that's what we set out to do. We have a great track record so far: over 90% of our 170 graduates have gone to the US, Europe, or Hong Kong for college, and 95% of them graduate with their B.A. on time. Best of all, most of them come back to fight Myanmar's brain drain and develop their communities.
The 2015 elections have ushered in a new landscape of possibilities for the country and now, more than ever, Myanmar will need educated and caring young leaders to fashion meaningful and sustainable policies, initiatives, and institutions to serve the nation. However, it will take some time for the national system to catch up. During this time, we hope to broaden the scope of the education that we provide. In order to do this, we need to help more students from poor, rural, and minority backgrounds. They will be critical to developing the great breadth and depth of communities within the country.
We need your support so that we can give scholarships to the most deserving Myanmar students. We're shooting to raise $10,000, which is about 9% of our yearly expenses, in order to serve qualified students regardless of their access to resources. Currently, over half of our students receive some sort of financial aid to attend PCP, and we want to increase that number. In the coming year, more than ever, we will reach out to students from more rural areas of Myanmar whom we believe should have equal access to the program and whose development will expand the platform of growth in the country.
Lamin Oo, PCP Class of 2004, Gettysburg College Class of 2010
It is unfortunate that "I love my job!" isn't a phrase spoken too often in this day and age. I'm a documentary filmmaker and I absolutely love my job. It isn't the most conventional career path. In fact, I wouldn't be able to do what I do a few years ago under the military rule. It isn't the most well-paid job. For someone with a college degree from the US, I would make more money working for a telecom company. But I do love my job. It challenges me intellectually and creatively. And I am good at it -- I've won some film awards and President Obama has name-dropped me in one of his speeches in Myanmar -- because I love what I do.
It was at the Pre-Collegiate Program where I first got the idea that your work shouldn't just be an exercise to get money but that it should be a way to bring meaning and purpost to your life. I was a science kid in high school. I thought I was going to be an engineer -- the conventional path. The program widened my horizon with its philosophy and sociology classes that raised the big questions about life and meaning. It showed me what is possible. It taught me that I don't have to settle for a conventional career. With the Program's help, I went on to study Philosophy and Psychology at Gettysburg college. Upon my return to Myanmar, I joined up with my childhood friends to start a film production company and started making documentaries. My time at the Program was a significant turning point for me and it made me who I am today - someone who loves what he does
Swe Zaw Oo, Class of 2012, Green Mountain College Class of 2016
I grew up at Northern Shan State in Myanmar and studied Sustainable Business at the Green Mountain College in the United States. I managed to do several internships at Starwood, one of the largest hotel and leisure companies in North American, and Canbank & Company, the Economist Intelligence Unit. Upon graduation, I returned home to join General Electric Inc. Myanmar to start as a Global Commercial Leadership Program candidate with rotational assignments at several Asian countries.
Before college, I got into Pre-Collegiate Program by overcoming the extremely selective admission process. The 16-month intensive study at the Pre-Collegiate Program (PCP) was a period of me experiencing the revelation that asking questions is encouraged and the pursuit of knowledge is one great privilege. I was introduced to the liberal arts study, which fosters critical thinking skill, problem solving skill and the ability to synthesize new ideas. I was greatly challenged at the program in terms of English and the ability to look at a problem from multiple perspectives, but I also found myself grow and eventually transform into a critical thinker. The educational experience at the program was a tremendous help for me to cope with academic, social and cultural challenges that are common at the U.S. college. And the classmates I interacted with while studying at the program have become life-long friends.
I genuinely hope that the program lasts forever and keeps helping future Myanmar youths to receive a great learning experience that I had. I believe the students of the Pre-Collegiate Program are aspiring entrepreneurs and change-makers, who would make sure that the development in our country, Myanmar, is inevitable.
Kyawt Thiri Nyunt, PCP Class of 2013, Dominican University Class of 2017
The Pre-Collegiate Program taught me many skills such as critical thinking, reading, writing and so on. But the most important value the Pre-Collegiate Program taught me is compassion.
During a field trip for my sociology class to the mountains in Northern Burma, I was able to conduct a survey about accessibility of education in the area. The results shocked me: one high school in thirty miles radius, one college graduate in the whole township. The students in the area are also farmers who help their families. They have to walk 10 miles in the mud every day to get to school. All I had to do was put on my ironed uniform, grab my lunch box and hop on to the school bus. The field trip made me more aware of the wealth gap in my country, which I was ignorant of before. After that, I started seeing the gap more — at teashops, bus-stops and every street corner.
Combined with my interest for film and photography, this awareness inspired me to become a storyteller who can convey social issues through visual arts. Moreover, getting out of my comfort zone and viewing the world from others’ perspective had become one of the essential tools to my learning process as a student, as a photographer and as a human.
