First Southwestern Advantage Entrepreneurial Youth Scholarship recipient in Estonia – Lii Urb

The mission of SA Southwestern Advantage is to promote the entrepreneurial education and experience of young people in the European countries where the Southwestern Advantage student program operates. For the first time in the spring of 2024, we awarded the Entrepreneurial Youth Scholarship in Estonia. Scholarship recipient was selected to be Lii Urb, a student of University of Tartu.

The purpose of the Entrepreneurial Youth Scholarship competition is to recognize and support entrepreneurial and active young people. The amount of the scholarship was €2,000 and a total of 42 students from six universities applied for the scholarship. From among the applications received, the best 21 were invited to participate in a half-day seminar where Southwestern Advantage sales managers shared their knowledge of business, sales, presentation and leadership skills with the youth. During the seminar, all the candidates were also able to step out of their comfort zone and make a short presentation about themselves.

There were many strong applicants for the scholarship, and the final winner was determined based on the preferences of the applicants, Southwestern Advantage, and university representatives. We are extremely happy to announce that Lii Urb, a student at the University of Tartu, was selected as the recipient of the SW Entrepreneurial Youth 2024 scholarship.

Lii’s contribution to the development of the local community and the life of young people is significant, and the list of initiated and managed projects is very long, both as the creator of the Lääneranna Youth Council, the youth representative of the village society, the president of the Estonian Physics Students’ Society, and the editor of the Lääneranna Youth Portal. In addition, Lii has gained entrepreneurial experience as the CEO of the student company Cafe LAJM and as the person responsible for the work, accommodation and organization of cultural events at the Sakste Maja cafe. Lii also contributes to the defense of Estonia in the Naiskodukaitse evacuation group and as the chairwoman of the revision committee. Lii has acquired management experience in all the activities of the above-mentioned organizations and in managing several projects. In addition to a convincing resume, Lii, as a very confident and good communicator, was able to leave a good first impression to speakers of the Entrepreneurial Youth Scholarship seminar and the other nominees.

Lii shared with us his feedback regarding the scholarship competition and future plans: “I found the Entrepreneurial Youth Scholarship competition in the University’s student newsletter. It caught my attention precisely with its focus on entrepreneurial young people, which I immediately resonated with – I have been doing my best to initiate projects and ideas for years. and implement them. During the competition, it was extremely cool to meet other young entrepreneurs like myself, with whom we could exchange ideas and experiences, so that future ventures would be even more successful. In addition, we received useful tips about management, investment and entrepreneurship.”

“I have moved my master’s plans to Austria, where, in addition to the beautiful and inviting nature, there are many exciting opportunities to study materials science at various universities. In addition, I see Austria as a great place to gain experience and educate myself in order to be a valuable researcher, worker and also a science teacher in the future. However, the move is a big financial challenge. I have also gone to work for this, but most of my time is already taken up by one of my passions – the development of the local community. That is why the Entrepreneurial Youth Scholarship is an extremely valuable support for my education abroad.”

“Once again, thank you very much for this opportunity! I believe that my long-term desire to study abroad will not be fulfilled with the scholarship!”