CHESTERLAND, Ohio — Alex Murza is in his element at the International Culinary Arts and Sciences Institute (ICASI). He's taking classes to pursue his dreams of becoming a professional chef.
Tim McCoy is one of his teachers at ICASI. He says Alex impressed everyone there right away.
"He's got great hand-eye coordination, great skills. I'm probably going to embarrass him a little bit but he's one of our smarter students as well ... and the work ethic is just out of this world," McCoy said.
Alex has been working his life. In fact, this past year, he's never worked harder. Six months ago, he was still in his native Ukraine, trying to get to the United States where his wife and 11-year-old son had been living for several months.
"I work ... volunteer (in Ukraine) and I help our soldiers and refugees," Alex told us.
Finally, he made it to the U.S. and joined his family. He's been working at Taco Bell to support them and pay for classes. Alex says he loves being at ICASI.
"If you have some question you can call your teacher, uh, even director of this school, and ask something. And that's very helpful, especially for me, especially for people like me who not like very good in English," Alex said.
When we went out to ICASI to speak with him, he had no idea what was coming. He had been chosen for a scholarship that would pay for an entire semester of culinary school.
"Dear Olaxander, the ICASI scholarship Fund Inc. board of directors wishes to congratulate you on being awarded a scholarship grant for the 2023 fall term. This letter serves as official notification that you have been awarded a $5,100 scholarship to continue in the ICASI certificate program in the culinary arts," a letter said.
Through tears, Alex said: "I'm happy to hear that ... that's, that's really helpful."
Then, he embraced his teachers Loretta Paganini, founder of ICASI, and Tim McCoy, who were also emotional.
"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you," he told them.
"You deserve it," McCoy said. "
"He's here every time, ready to learn, ready to go. And very, very important, you know, so you'll hear about him ... he's gonna make us very proud," Loretta said.
Alex's scholarship is made possible by the ICASI Scholarship Fund. But, they need funds to keep it going. Their largest fundraiser, Cleveland's Top Chefs, is on August 20. If you'd like to learn more about it, or just to donate to it, click HERE.
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