Sonya is a bright, vivacious, funny, and caring high school senior with dreams of studying International Business at Loyola University in Chicago. With Sonya’s excellent grades and her fluency in 3 languages- not to mention reading and writing in two more languages! - she will be a stellar college student and an excellent business major.

Sonya is also one of the most resilient and determined young women you will ever meet. Two years ago, as a high school sophomore in Ukraine, Sonya applied for and was accepted into the prestigious FLEX student exchange program. The program allowed her to spend a school year studying abroad in the United States, which had long been a dream of hers. She arrived in the States in August 2021 and spent several wonderful months in Ocracoke, North Carolina.

However, as we all are aware, in February 2022, tragedy struck and Ukraine was thrust into war with Russia. Sonya’s hometown of Sumy is right on the border of Russia and Ukraine and is often on the frontlines in the ongoing war. Sonya found herself stranded in the US, the situation too unstable for her to return. Her family is safe at the moment, thankfully, but the situation remains fraught.

As if the war wasn’t difficult enough for Sonya, she was also unable to stay in Ocracoke for more than her allotted school year, and therefore, in September 2023, she moved to the north suburbs of Chicago, where she lives to this day, with our family. While she has only been with us for 8 months, she has quickly become a beloved member of our family: both a darling daughter and fantastic big sister.

Sonya has fallen in love with Chicago and is looking forward to attending school in the city, and she has been charmed by Loyola’s campus. Its business program is a match made in heaven for Sonya’s skills and interests. Loyola also has the benefit of her being close to us, so she has an American home and family nearby, too—something all college students need!

Loyola has awarded Sonya a partial scholarship, but it only covers a portion of her tuition. And, as Sonya is technically an international student, she does not qualify for any federal financial aid—there are no grants available for her, and the only loans she qualifies for are private. And while last year there were scholarships available for Ukrainian students stranded here in the US, there are none available now. With the war, her family is unable to assist her, and there’s only so much we can do, as well. We continue to search and scour all resources for anything we can do to help her with college expenses. We created this fundraiser in the hopes that Sonya might be able to lower the cost of her tuition. Any funds raised will go directly to her tuition, meal plans, and dorm room costs. If we happen to raise more than is needed this year, it will be set aside to help with next year’s costs, too. We've included below the estimated out-of-pocket costs for a year of tuition at Loyola, minus Sonya’s scholarship. 

Thank you all so much for taking the time to learn about Sonya, and for considering helping her. Every little bit helps, and even if you can just spread the word, it is greatly appreciated. 

Truly, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

The Beverley Family

Estimated Tuition Costs (per https://www.luc.edu/undergrad/tuitionandfinancialaid/tuitionandfees/)

$50,200 per year tuition

$1436 fees

$16,894 room and board

$21,000 Presidential Scholarship

$47,600 total out of pocket expense