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BRIDGTON — Cassandra Varanka, Rotary District 7780 Peace Scholar candidate, will speak to the Bridgton-Lake Region Rotary Club at 7:30 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 19, via Zoom.
Varanka is one of 50 winners of the Peace and Conflict Resolution Scholarship chosen by Rotary International in 2021, and was sponsored by the club. She will talk about how she spent the past year preparing for her studies, which start in March at the University of Queensland (Australia) Rotary Centre for International Studies in Peace and Conflict Resolution. She’ll also discuss what she hopes to accomplish during her 18 months abroad.
For the Zoom link for this presentation, email gszoksbox@gmail.com.
Varanka heard about program from her uncle, George Szok, a long-time member of the Bridgton-Lake Region Rotary Club.She thought the fellowship could be an extraordinary opportunity to advance her knowledge and practical skill in conflict resolution. After a presentation and interview process, she was named sole candidate from District 7780, which comprises 41 clubs from Rumford to Portsmouth, N.H.
The fellowship, worth more than $75,000, will fully fund tuition and fees, room and board, round-trip transportation, and all internship and applied field study expenses for the 18-month course. Fellows are selected from countries and cultures around the globe based on their experience in peacebuilding and their potential for future leadership roles in conflict resolution. In Varanka’s case she has had extensive policy experience in nuclear disarmament as a congressional aide, and in leadership positions at Foreign Policy for America and Women’s Actions for New Directions. Her goal is to use newly acquired skills to forward the use of diplomatic rather than military solutions for conflict resolution.
Varanka is a native of New Hampshire, and graduate from St. Michael’s College, in Vermont. She lives and works in Washington D.C. Her parents have a vacation home in the Bridgton area.
