Forging Their Futures Helen Ezgo ’25 and Maina Shodmonbekova ’25 traveled across the world to expand their horizons at W&L thanks to the John M. Gunn International Scholarship.

By Kelsey Goodwin
March 13, 2025

“This experience has inspired me, and I now have a better plan for my future.”

~ Helen Ezgo ’25

Helen Ezgo ’25 and Maina Shodmonbekova ’25, this year’s recipients of the Gunn Scholarship, have spent the year in Lexington exploring the liberal arts, forming new friendships and forging a path to their futures.

The Gunn Scholarship invites eligible undergraduate students from around the world to spend one year at Washington and Lee University to augment the major studies in which they are engaged at their home institutions. The scholarship pays one year’s full tuition, room, board and transportation costs. Gunn Scholars may be majoring in any academic discipline, but preference is given to students who plan to focus some of their work in the Williams School of Commerce, Economics and Politics, taking courses in accounting, business administration, economics or politics, and are interested in a broader experience in the liberal arts.

Both are students from the American University of Central Asia (AUC) in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, although they did not know one another before arriving on campus. Ezgo, originally from Afghanistan, attended AUC before moving to Colorado in 2023, where she first heard about the Gunn Scholarship at W&L while continuing to take virtual classes with her home institution. Shodmonbekova came to AUC from Tajikistan and, like Ezgo, applied for the Gunn Scholarship during her senior year at AUC.

Ezgo is majoring in human rights at her home institution and has enjoyed the opportunity to take politics courses at W&L.

“Helen was a tremendous asset to our global politics class,” said Seth Cantey, associate professor of politics. “She brought uncommon perspective, having experienced U.S. foreign policy firsthand.”

Shodmonbekova said that adjusting to life in Lexington was challenging at first. Her year at W&L has been her first time abroad, and she said being far from her family was especially difficult in the first few weeks.

“I’ve had wonderful professors here who have been welcoming and encouraging,” Shodmonbekova said, noting that professors encouraged her to come to their office hours to make sure she was adjusting well to the course material and that she had the opportunity to ask further questions. Both students emphasized the personal attention they have received from faculty as one of W&L’s greatest strengths. Shodmonbekova added that her relationships with other international students and with the Center for International Education have helped her acclimate to life in the United States and form friendships on campus, particularly with Ezgo.

“I can now say that I have friends from Nepal, Pakistan and the U.S. I’ve definitely become more sociable here,” Shodmonbekova said.

Ezgo and Shodmonbekova said that the W&L Speaking Tradition as well as the friendliness of the local community have been a pleasant cultural discovery as they have settled into life in Lexington. Both students are Muslim, and Ezgo said she has appreciated the opportunity to explore local churches and attend services for the first time.

“I was always interested to just see the inside [of churches] and how people worship,” Ezgo said.

International students create a tight-knit community on campus, due in part to the efforts of Hunter Swanson, international student adviser and associate director for W&L’s Center for International Education (CIE). One way CIE fosters these relationships is through the International Student Mentorship program, which connects students like Ezgo and Shodmonbekova to other international students to answer questions and welcome them to W&L’s campus. Former Gunn Scholar and International Student Mentor Danae Manta ’24 has been in touch with Ezgo and Shodmonbekova frequently since they arrived on campus.

“The mentor-mentee relationship is really about just being able to understand the perspective of a new student who’s excited but also a little bit scared about coming to a new country and a new educational environment,” Swanson said, adding that Ezgo’s “confidence and independence” and Shodmonbekova’s willingness to get involved with CIE have contributed to the relationships they’ve formed during their time here.

Ezgo plans to take a gap year before applying to graduate school and hopes to find work that can also support her family back in Afghanistan. Ezgo worked for a law clinic at AUC as a researcher and caseworker for those seeking asylum in Kyrgyzstan and said she hopes to find similar work in the United States while she plans the next phase of her education.

“I hadn’t considered graduate school before, and now I know that is what I want to do,” Ezgo said. “This experience has inspired me, and I now have a better plan for my future.”

Shodmonbekova is exploring her options after graduation, including graduate studies, working in the United States or returning to her hometown. Shodmonbekova’s major at AUC was social entrepreneurship, and she hopes to one day take the knowledge she has gained from her undergraduate studies and apply it to opening her own business.

“Where I’m from has limited options for education, so I hope to create more opportunities for young people in my community,” Shodmonbekova said.

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