UC FasTrax Student Goes to Cuba

 

Mr. Chhuon Sathia, 19 years old, didn’t expect to get the opportunity to study abroad. Originally coming to UC to study IT, Mr. Sathia was in for a surprise. He had just recently completed his FasTrax program and received a certificate for his completion at CES on July 15, 2009.    He was expecting to return to UC in October to study for his Bachelor’s degree in Science and Technology, specifically focusing on IT. While waiting for October to roll around, Mr. Sathia decided to look around for scholarships.   One day he visited the Cultural Relations and Scholarships Department in Phnom Penh. He noticed that there was a scholarship program to study in Cuba.

 

“I remember my dad telling me that Cuba is ranked #2 for a degree in dentistry,” stated Mr. Sathia. “I was very interested in the dentistry program that I decided to apply,” he added. 

 

He went to the Ministry of Education to obtain an application. Then he filled it out and hoped for the best. 
 

“At first I was so scared that I wouldn’t get accepted into the program that I didn’t tell anyone about it. Then a couple of weeks ago, I received good news. I got accepted. I began calling everyone about the great news.” 

 

Mr. Sathia received a full-time scholarship for six years. He will be leaving to Cuba on September 23, 2009. 

 

He will be studying Stomatology, the study of the mouth and its disease. “I feel that it will be harder than studying dentistry.”

 

“It’s weird that I like IT but I am also interested in Stomatology. Therefore, since I have the chance to study abroad, I will take this opportunity to go. I can always come back and study IT in the future,” he added.

 

The application did not require Mr. Sathia to write any essays. “I just had to give them my background information and prove that my diploma is real.”

 

Since the main language spoken in Cuba is Spanish, Mr. Sathia will have to learn Spanish for one year. Because of this reason, he did not have to take the TOEFL test. 
 

“Six years is a long time, but I hope when I come back I can work for a dental clinic. This will give me hands on experience. Hopefully then I can open my own clinic to help others.”