Victoriya (“Vika”) Mykolenko has committed to matriculating at Brown University in September. A native of Kharkiv, Ukraine, and a superb hockey player, Vika has studied in the United States with the support of the Kinasewich Fund for three years. She has also had the essential support of Cathy, Lev and Emily Byrd, whose home in Needham, Mass., has been hers.

     To put Vika’s achievement in perspective, Brown admits a freshman class of 1,450 out of an applicant pool of more than 20,000. The school knows it is getting a good hockey player, but is going to discover it is getting much more than that. Vika is a young woman with steel in her soul –– who worked hard for three years to bring her academic work to the point of qualifying for Brown.

     In Kharkiv last summer, she was the leader of parents and coaches fighting attempts by corrupt officials to expel the Druzbha sports program, which has provided the Kinasewich Fund with so many outstanding scholar/athletes, from its rink and gymnasium.

     Vika spent one year at Southfield School in Brookline. For the last two years she has been a student at Proctor Academy in Andover, N.H. She is a credit to both schools and will be a credit to Brown. Congratulations!