Jonny and Lisa Lobel

Frydlant experienced a thaw this week. The snow is gone, the trees and blooming, and Spring is here! One of the most exciting developments of the new season has been the success of BMA students in university applications. Our students usually go to excellent universities across the Czech Republic and this year won’t be an exception. Three soon-to-be-graduates, however, put in the extra effort to apply to universities in America and Scotland.

American universities, while having some of the best reputations in the world, are extremely expensive for international students. Scottish universities, on the other hand, offer free tuition to European Union citizens while also consistently ranking highly among the top universities in the world. For the first time in my career, I helped Czech students prepare college applications in English.  This included training for SAT and TOEFL tests, crafting multiple essays, ordering translated transcript copies, and meeting deadlines.  The road was plagued with disappointments when, for example, standard test scores came back lower than we had hoped or when several students dropped out of the running for the University of Chicago because it was just too hard.  Yet, in the end, it has all paid off.

Three students, all girls, have been accepted at several Scottish institutions, including Aberdeen, Edinburgh Napier, Stirling, and Glasgow Caldonian.  While they mull their choices, we are celebrating success as a relatively young school.  We see that we can open doors for students to change communities and be changed by exciting educational opportunities in ways that other local schools can’t.  This, coupled with our vision for being a spiritually challenging, family environment, is what we believe can make a massive positive impact on our region.

I’m so proud and am cheering for the students who put in the effort to go above and beyond in achieving what seemed impossible.  I’m also thrilled at the results, both academic and spiritual, that God continually blesses BMA with.