Endowed scholarships are essential in our efforts to bring talented, creative students to Oxy from across California and around the world. But beyond attracting those students to Oxy, scholarships ensure that they can take full advantage of the Oxy experience—immersing themselves in research opportunities and campus life, and taking advantage of all Los Angeles has to offer.
Consider Edin Custo ’23, who came to Oxy from Bosnia and Herzegovina, with his tuition, room, board and expenses fully covered by scholarship support. Custo says his attending Oxy would have been impossible otherwise; his family needed to take out a loan to cover his airfare to Los Angeles for his freshman year. “I’m so thankful that I don’t have to rely financially on my parents, who had already done so much for me,” he says. “I will be eternally grateful for the support Oxy has provided.”
Custo has made the most of his time at Oxy. As a Fletcher Jones Scholar, he has conducted research under the mentorship of Associate Professor of Chemistry Emmanuelle Despagnet-Ayoub, exploring how chemical synthesis could lead to new alternatives for energy storage. He is a member of the Muslim Student Association. And he has paid his good fortune forward, forging connections with other international students as co-director of Oxy’s International Student Organization.
And although he has worked part-time jobs in order to earn spending money, the financial stability offered by his scholarships has enabled him to have a full college experience – attending movies, cycling, and exploring Southern California. Custo says his experience speaks volumes about Oxy’s mission. “It says to me that Oxy really wants to draw as diverse a group of students as possible, and that the institution is dedicated to the community it’s in, and to serving that community.”