2023 Scholarship Winner: Simone van Wyk
We are excited to announce that the 2023 recipient of our foundation's scholarship is Simone van Wyk from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. Simone has been selected from a strong group of international students across the USA. Congratulations!
My name is Simone van Wyk, and I'm one of eight children. My dreams have always been bigger than my circumstances. My father has always strived to give his children the best education, being self-employed without a stable income. Being a family of 10 living off one salary was always challenging in an economy like South Africa's.
Despite these difficult circumstances, I have been writing articles for companies to earn some money here and there, hoping to gather enough for a plane ticket to go home before the start of the summer. I firmly believe that hard work can outweigh all difficult circumstances, and I know that I will overcome.
Meet Our Scholars