Volha Charnysh

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“In 2003, at the age of 15, I came to the United States as an exchange student from my home in Belarus. It was my first trip abroad and the first time I was away from my family. I spent 10 months in a US high school, met students from all other the world, came to understand the concept of volunteerism, and realized how few people knew about my home country. Most importantly, however, I learned that hard work indeed pays off and that one’s accomplishments lead to more than mere self-satisfaction.”

  • Program: 2010 Graduate Scholarship Recipient
  • Resides: Cambridge, MA
  • Hometown: Grodno, Belarus
  • Age: 24

Biography

 

PROFILE: Volha Charnysh lives for the day nuclear weapons will be banned from the planet. She grew up during the time when Belarus, once a part of the USSR, relinquished the Soviet nuclear arsenal and joined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as a non-nuclear weapon state. She came to America as a high school exchange student, returned to the US for college and currently has the job of her dreams: a Fellow at the Arms Control Association. Volha loves to walk and take in everything happening around her. Each day, she commutes three miles by foot from her apartment in the Georgetown section of Washington, DC to her job on L Street. For someone as dedicated to peace and disarmament as Volha, it is fitting that the first building of major significance she passes is Dumbarton Oaks. Situated on a bluff overlooking the city and with a magnificent view of the Potomac River, it was there in 1944 that the groundwork for the creation of the United Nations was first discussed. History aside, Volha is also a talented writer and cartoonist, blogs on international affairs for Partnership for a Secure America and is executive editor of Belarus Digest.

INSPIRATION: Volha said she is grateful to her parents in Belarus who supported and respected her decision to leave home and come to the United States at a relatively young age. It was a trio of professors, Melinda Rhodes, Jack Hymans and Steven Goldstein, who inspired her to study political science and attend graduate school. 

ASPIRATION: Eventually, Volha wants to become “a scholar, researcher and professor of government.” But underlying everything is Volha’s stated goal to work toward a nuclear weapons-free world and “bring closer the day Belarus becomes a crossroads where the East and the West meet to negotiate rather than to take aim at each other.”

MAKING A DIFFERENCE: Despite difficulties along the way, Volha is proud of her continuing effort to persue many diverse interests throughout college,. “On my way to becoming a political scientist, I have played piano, written news and opinion pieces, learned a few programming languages, and tried my hand at scuplting, writing poetry, dancing, and building websites.”

ACCOLADES: Volha was a straight-A student at both Cottey and Smith Colleges, and graduated Summa Cum Laude from the latter. Also at Smith, in 2009, she was awarded the “Dawes Prize” for the best Work in Government. In 2007, she received the “Second Lei Award” at Cottey, an honor given to the graduating student who best exemplified the spirit and ideals of the college.

INTERESTING FACT: Volha is an accomplished pianist and loves to play every chance she gets. There has been a void in her life during her time in Washington, DC, as she does not have a piano in her apartment. She hopes that at graduate school, she’ll be able to access practice rooms and resume her love affair with the instrument.
 

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