Editor’s Note: This profile is the third of six about students and alumni leading up to LovEMU Giving Day on April 10. For more information about the day and to donate, visit love.emu.edu.
Three years ago and about 8,600 miles away in Yangon, Myanmar, Anne Cornelius ’26 boarded a plane and left the only home she had ever known.
Escaping the ravages of a civil war that tore apart her country, she and her family sought asylum in the U.S. A kind host family from Maryland welcomed them in, and Cornelius soon adjusted to life in America. She learned that a close friend from her home city, Rachelle Swe ’21, had just graduated from Eastern Mennonite University and was working there as an admissions counselor. Cornelius decided to pay her friend a visit and take a campus tour of EMU.
She never imagined attending a college, let alone one in America. Her family wasn’t exactly flush with cash, especially after uprooting their lives to settle in a new country.
Thanks to the incredible generosity of donors through the Yoder/Webb Scholarship, Cornelius could attend EMU without paying a dollar in tuition. The four-year, full-tuition scholarship is EMU’s highest academic award offered to a select few honors students each year.
“I’m really grateful for the scholarship,” Cornelius said. “It is the only way I could come to school at EMU.”
Her friend in admissions introduced her to other international and Burmese students. These days, Cornelius, a sophomore majoring in international business and business analytics, has plenty of friends and plenty going on.
She is vice president of marketing for the Student Government Association, a digital media ambassador for undergraduate admissions and is a community assistant for her residence hall. Cornelius also does her part in recruiting future Royals; she talks to students back in Myanmar and encourages them to apply to EMU.
She might have been forced to leave one home, but she found another at EMU.
“I love the community here,” she said. “Everyone’s so caring. I love how quickly I was able to fit in.”
Your generous support helps students like Cornelius pursue a quality college education without financial barriers. Join us for the 8th annual LovEMU Giving Day and contribute to the scholarships that empower future EMU students. Let’s build EMU “Stronger Together.”
Read the previous profiles in our Why they LovEMU series:
Join the Discussion on “Why they LovEMU: Forced to leave one home, Anne Cornelius ’26 found another at EMU”