Dr. Gita Chopra Bakshi was raised in Mussoorie, a town at the base of the Himalayas in Uttarakhand, India. Growing up in Mussoorie, she became keenly aware of two things: first, the challenges confronting young girls from rural mountain families, particularly as they sought a full education. Second, she learned of the excellent educational opportunities provided by Woodstock, the international boarding school on the edge of town.
Dr. Bakshi now practices medicine in Bethesda, Maryland, as does her husband, Dr. Ajay Bakshi. They want to provide young people from underprivileged communities, particularly young girls in and around Mussoorie, with a life-changing education. They are funding the Ajay Bakshi and Gita Chopra Bakshi Scholarship at Woodstock School. Lodged within Timberline and administered as a component program, the Scholarship is designed specifically to assist disadvantaged children of Uttarakhand with the cost of attending Woodstock School.
The full Scholarship Agreement describing the program is available upon request. In summary, any student who is a resident of state of Uttarakhand is eligible barring a family connection to Timberline, Woodstock, or the donors.
SELECTION CRITERIA INCLUDE
- Financial need, with particular attention to students from rural villages in the Mussoorie area who would be unlikely to receive financial aid through any other assistance program.
- A disadvantaged family situation, with particular attention to students from families where one or both parents are permanently absent, or deceased.
- The potential for the student to benefit from a Woodstock education, given its idiosyncrasies in an Indian context.
- The student’s apparent potential to succeed academically at Woodstock School.
- Additional, secondary preference is given to candidates who are girls and/or who have received the Scholarship in the past, and are in a position to continue their education at Woodstock.
A standing scholarship committee at Woodstock is entitled to make recommendations about recipients. Final decisions are made by the Timberline Board. Once a student is admitted to Woodstock and receives the Chopra Bakshi Scholarship from Timberline, the final selection criterion noted above operates to make it likely the Scholarship will follow the student all the way through his or her time at Woodstock.
The Bakshis have made a generous commitment to fund the Scholarship at a level sufficient to enable one award per year, for now. Additional donations to the underlying Chopra Bakshi Fund are welcomed as mechanisms to provide for additional scholarships, or to build a long-term endowment that would expand and extend the program.