Balicki and Elliott Second Chance Scholarship

In 2023, CMU alumni Bob Balicki, ’79, and Gail Elliott, ’94, established the Balicki and Elliott Second Chance Scholarship. The award was set up to provide help to students seeking a degree in computer science who demonstrate financial need, are former foster children, are first-generation students, are sole-parents or from a sole-parent household, or who have documented adversity in their life that has been overcome.

“We’ve been in the (computer science) industry for many years and we’ve seen a lot of people that need some help,” Balicki said. “We ran across some people that had issues where if they were able to have a scholarship and get that little bit of extra help, it would’ve really been a big difference for them.”

Pushkal Kafley is this year’s recipient of the Balicki and Elliott Second Chance Scholarship. Kafley is a first-generation college student who was born in a refugee camp in Nepal and lived there for seven years before coming to the U.S.

“There was little to no technology there,” he said. “Then I came to America, which has abundant technology. That provided the spark to pursue computer science because computers are at the core of it all. I wanted to control them and know how to do that, so computer science is the perfect field.”

Kafley is set to graduate in December with a degree in computer science. He then plans to earn a master’s degree from CMU before entering the job market. He says the Balicki and Elliott Second Chance Scholarship has helped him financially and mentally.

“It really means a lot because it has lessened my financial burden and I know that real people out there believe in me,” Kafley said. “Not only in the financial sense but in the belief aspect. Someone believes in me enough to give me this money, so I should keep going harder, push even more than I do, to make their beliefs come true.”

To Balicki and Elliott, igniting Kafley’s future success means everything.

“That’s the idea,” Balicki said. “Making a difference in somebody that might not have that chance otherwise. If we’re able to do it, why not?”