It’s over, the best students have won. Four months after its beginning, the largest scholarship action in the country, ‘Top Scholarships for Top Students’ reached its culmination on Monday July 22 in the Hotel Sheraton. Before over one hundred distinguished guests, including President Stipe Mesić, the eight winners of the 40,000 kuna scholarships were proclaimed. These winners are: Vjekoslav Kovač, Pero Mrnarević, Suzana Varga, Silvia Golem, Laura Maja Potočki, Mario Vašak, Josip Jularić and Barbara Kvenić. They are the top eight students in the country, thanks to their exceptional grades, work and extracurricular activities, according to the assessments of the competition organizers: VIPnet, Erste&Steiermarkische Bank and Nacional.

Before over one hundred distinguished guests, including President Stipe Mesić, the eight winners of the 40,000 kuna scholarships were proclaimed. These winners are: Vjekoslav Kovač, Pero Mrnarević, Suzana Varga, Silvia Golem, Laura Maja Potočki, Mario Vašak, Josip Jularić and Barbara Kvenić. The winners passed through a rigorous selection process, with a little bit of luck along the way. 281 candidates applied, and 50 finalists were selected in May. The “worst” students among the candidates had averages of 4.5, some with prestigious awards, and the jury members were left with the difficult task of selecting 7 among them. The eighth scholarship was selected by Nacional readers.

After a two month assessment process, we chose the winners, four young men and four young women, which qualified for the largest student scholarships in the country. It may not be a comfort, but the remaining 273 candidates can also consider themselves winners, as the fact alone that they participated in the competition proves that a nice future lies before them.

Proof of how socially important this scholarship program is could be seen in the guests which attended: President Stipe Mesić and his advisors, Chancellor of Zagreb University Jasna Helena Mencer, numerous university professors, chairman of the VIPnet board Josef Vinatzer, vice president of the Erste&Steiermarkische Bank Tomislav Vuić, president of the Nacional board Ivo Pukanić, and other public figures, such as attorney Čedo Prodanović, banker Goran Gazivoda, member of the INA board Maja Brinar and more than one hundred others.

President Stipe Mesic in attendance

President Mesić showed his delight with the competition. “Top Scholarships for Top Student shows that there are many students in our country who are our guarantee that Croatia will have the people capable of stimulating the country’s future development. Thanks to such young experts, I believe that we will achieve the standards of developed Europe. In addition, the organizers deserve a great thanks for succeeding in stimulating people and companies prepared to help develop knowledge,” stated President Stipe Mesić.

With their attendance, the honored guests confirmed the importance of this action, which over the past four months has grown from a scholarship program to a project of promoting young experts. Thus, it is no surprise that this year’s fund of 320,000 kuna will be tripled next year to 1,000,000 kuna, thus increasing the number of students to receive scholarships. It is to early to state just how many scholarships will be awarded next year, but there is no doubt that the 2003 Top Scholarships for Top Students will be the most spectacular scholarship program ever organized in Croatia.

Now that it’s all over, no one needs to be upset. There is only a seven month wait until the beginning of the next, even wealthier, competition. This short period from now until the opening of the next competition should be used to improve overall grade averages and await next summer as one of the Top Students.

PERO MRNAREVIĆ: “Thank you to all those who believed in me, and sincere congratulations to the remaining winners. Art is my life’s calling and I never had any doubt about that, even though I was also interested in sociology and philosophy. Art is the only side of life with both a rational and sensible side and that is what drives me to dedicate myself to it. The greatest benefits of such an action is not in the money, but in the fact that someone from Croatia finally thought to invest in young people. I believed that I had a chance, and I am so excited about receiving this award.

I enjoy reading Nacional, particularly your leading columnists, and I am heading off to Dubrovnik soon, where I will be spending my summer.”

SUZANA VARGA: “I really did not expect to win this 40,000 kuna award, which makes me even more excited. I have been interested in dentistry since I was young, as a girl I loved nice teeth and healthy smiles. That may sound like a strange reason, but that is why I decided to study dentistry. I have seven exams left before graduation, but first I will head off to Zadar and go for a good swim. Then back to university and my remaining exams.”

SILVIJA GOLEM: “I have invested a lot of effort into my education and this reward is proof that there are people who recognize my efforts to date. Economics, specifically macroeconomics, is my central focus, and I would love to enroll in post-graduate studies in this field as well. ‘Top Scholarships for Top Students’ is proof that things are getting better and that people are starting to care about students. I hope that I will be able to stay in Croatia and use my knowledge obtained here. I will spend my summer holidays in Split, and then will be jumping into new obligations.”

BARBARA KVENIĆ, student at the Rijeka Faculty of Medicine, since 1997 has worked as a demonstrator for the Institute of Biology and Human Genetics in Rijeka:

“I was hoping, but I didn’t expect to receive this scholarship, and now I am thrilled to be among the winners, not just because of the money, but because of the recognition of my efforts and my desire for knowledge. This fills me with hope that real changes will begin taking place in our society, and that hard work and knowledge will begin to be worth more.

“I will make every effort to spend my scholarship rationally. I intend to use a portion of the money to start a fund to buy a vehicle. But first I am going on holidays with my university friends around the Adriatic islands.”

MARIO VAŠAK, from Severin near Bjelovar has a 5.0 grade point average, and is a three time winner of the Electrotechnical and Computer Science Faculty award.

“Though I have had some medical problems in the last few days, I decided to attend the ceremony, and I’ll need a few days to recover from this great excitement. In addition to my studies, I am thinking about investing some of my winnings in a housing savings program, which at the end of university would be great starting capital. I don’t plan to change anything significantly in my life: I’ve spent two painstaking years getting used to the student dorms. Now I’ve finally gotten used to the advantages and setbacks of dorm life. I would like to enroll in post-graduate studies, and I would love to try, though it is not popular to admit, working abroad for a while.

“More than the money, this scholarship is recognition of my efforts, it means a lot to me to be selected among the eight best students. I can hardly wait to get better so that I can celebrate this award with my friends.”

JOSIP JULARIĆ, from Sesvete, is a student at the Faculty of Kiniesiology in Zagreb, and a professional athlete who has already won the title of Croatian champion ten times.

“My heart was pound as though in a race, I was completely shaking. I came to the Sheraton Hotel without any real idea of what to expect. This scholarship came at exactly the moment when I needed it most, my father just recently lost his job, and this will make my life much easier. Now I can lighten the load for my parents, because I will be able to independently buy my equipment and begin preparations, and help my sister who is passing her exams in her fifth year of medicine, since she has to pay for her studies. Thanks to sports and my travels, I have met many friends who said they would send in their coupons for me, but all the same I am surprised and would like to thank everyone. I will do my best to not disappoint those who gave me their vote. I will continue my studies, pass all my exams and keep training, in the hopes that I will achieve my greatest goal – to compete in the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.