Dharamshala: The first-ever Pre-departure virtual orientation for Tibetan Scholarship Program (TSP) 2020 cohorts was successfully conducted for two days from July 18 to 19.
The two days orientation was attended by the seven outgoing students online from different cities in India. The day one session began with an address from DoE Kalon Dr. Pema Yangchen who is also a TSPAlumni who stressed on innate responsibilities that comes with the prestigious achievement.
Calling them the “ambassadors of Tibet”, Kalon said they have to act accordingly and advocate for the Tibet cause whenever they get an opportunity.
The session was followed by briefing on “The Global Significance of the Tibetan Plateau” by Zamlha Tempa Gyatlen and “Briefing on Research Methodology” by Tsewang Dorjee from Tibetan Political Institute. Chief Counsellor Dolkar Wangmo spoke on how to adjust and mentally sync with the new environment.
TSP Alumni association Dharamsala covered topics ranging on how to sort legal documents, reaching out to academic advisors, finding an on-campus internship, networking etc.
From the US they were briefed by Representative Ngodup Tsering of Office of Tibet Washington DC on “Overview on the role of Office of Tibet, Washington DC, Tibetan Communities in US and Introduction of US Congress support for Tibet”. Kungo highlighted on the “Tibet Policy Act”.
Tibet Fund Coordinator briefed them on their placement and their status on the road ahead to the US. The two-day virtual meet concluded with an informal session with three candidates of TSP 2019 from the US sharing their own personal experiences and how to overcome challenges.
“DoE is conducting this kind of virtual orientation for the first time. We carefully plan the topics of discussion for the interest and benefit of the candidates. The session was short but impactful. We attempted to keep it within an hour as long virtual meets are often exhausting for participants. We are happy that it went well,” said Sonam Sangmo, head of Scholarship and Sponsorship Section, DoE.
As feedback to the first-ever virtual orientation, one of the candidates thanked the DOE for “having successfully organized the orientation program and it was really helpful”. Another candidate said, “Thank you for organizing the pre-departure virtual orientation for us. Each of the sessions was extremely informative and helped clear my doubts on several issues. Apart from the technical hitch [a few instances of video freeze and voice echo], it was overall great.”
Tibetan Scholarship Program (TSP) is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the US State Department. It is being administered jointly by the Tibet Fund & The Department of Education, CTA.
-Filed by Department of Education