5th Annual Bakala Foundation Scholars and Alumni Meeting

Just as they do each year during the festive season, Bakala scholars prepared a special gift for one hundred Prague high school students, namely a series of 15 workshops that introduce the fields of their university studies. The workshops ran in parallel in three classrooms, meaning every student had a chance to attend five lectures of their choice – the subjects ranged from the humanities to the sciences, so everyone found something to their liking. Yesterday’s meeting amounted to something special for the scholars themselves too. There was an evening debate about politics, populism and the role of leadership with Ivan Hodac, founder and President of the Aspen Institute Prague, and Petr Kolar, who has held various top positions in the Czech foreign service. Another inspiring debate followed, this time with Bob Kartous, Michal Pechoucek and Jakub Tesar, who focused on what scholars can do to improve the quality of education in the Czech Republic. A new president of the Bakala scholars was elected during the meeting – congratulations go to Ales Weiser, a Stanford University graduate who in 2014 completed his master’s degree in East Asian Studies and now works in the UK for Mars, Incorporated within their prestigious management program.