2025 Student Selection
RTC Site Director Saw Raykaw (standing) welcomes community leaders and candidates to Earth Mission’s 2025 Student Selection week.
As a mother of four grown sons who have all applied to multiple colleges and grad schools, I have become much more empathetic of the difficulties admissions staff have in the selection of students for freshman classes each year. Each year at Earth Mission (EM) we get more and more applications—and over the years, progressively more qualified applicants—but our Year 1 class size has not increased.
From the 70 - 100 applications we now receive, only about 30 are asked to come to Rain Tree Clinic (RTC) to interview. Just 12 applicants (maybe 13 if we beg the financial department relentlessly) are admitted as our new batch of PA students.
One of the skills I teach as a Year 1 teacher is English composition. Every year the students write to me about how stressful the application process was for them and how over-the-moon excited they were when they saw their names on the new Year 1 class list—and how many tears were cried by their friends that did not make the list.
The program that EM has developed over the past 10 years is one of the most prestigious educational opportunities in Karen State. If you are an EM donor, supporter, or prayer warrior, we thank you for allowing us to make this program what it is. You are truly changing the lives of an entire people group.
Our new batch of applicants arrived on February 23. However, the process had been in motion since about October. Leaders started inviting students that they believe will be good healthcare providers to fill out an application. The applications were due back to EM by the end of December. After collecting the applications, Dr. Nant Htet, our Director of Education, shared the application file with our 6-person selection committee. Then the work for us began. We each pored over the applications and chose our top 30 candidates. At the end of January, we met together and discussed our lists to choose the 30 candidates that we would invite to come to RTC to interview.
Susan (right) and the Education team review applications to decide which students to invite to the Rain Tree Clinic for interviews.
February 23, 2025, the candidates and their leaders arrived on the RTC campus. Many of them had traveled for days by motorbike, boats, trucks, and on foot to get here. The applicants must bring everything that they will need to live at RTC, because if they are chosen, they will not have a chance to return to their homes for at least 10 months—maybe 5 years if they are from one of the distant districts. The excitement and terror were palpable. The leaders were excited to talk to their previous years’ applicants that are now students here to see how they are doing and gather information for family members eager to get news of their children.
As the onslaught of leaders and applicants were shown to their accommodations for the week and settled in, the selection committee was busy making last minute organizational decisions. Each of our 30 applicants underwent a week’s worth of activities. In groups of 8 - 10, the students began testing, interviewing, getting physical examinations, observing rounds, teaching, and some lectures.
The testing portion of the process consisted of English grammar and vocabulary intake tests, a math intake test, a math multiplication speed test, a written essay, and a critical thinking test. These are the objective metrics with which we evaluate applicants. For the more subjective interview portion of the process, each applicant and their leader sat with our selection committee and answered questions meant to assess their leadership qualities, healthcare experience, commitment to the Karen community, their ability to work as part of a group, communication skills, and ability to speak in S’gaw Karen, Burmese, and English. For many of our students, this was their first experience talking to a native English speaker—it can be paralyzing.
As the week drew to a close, the selection committee met to rank the candidates. This is the most difficult component of the process for me. Every year there are more qualified candidates than we have space for. It is heartbreaking to have to tell a highly qualified applicant that they did not make the cut. Each year has its unique rubric for who we need to accept, so for a reason as seemingly simple as we need more students from a certain district for some reason, a highly qualified applicant from another district may not make it. Every year I have hopes that these applicants will be able to reapply next year—but life is not always that simple in the jungle.
In the end, 13 students were selected for the Physician Associate program, and 7 for the Engineering Tech program. We are thankful for the resources to select more students than in past years. Combined with our Year 2-5 cohorts, our total student count is now 77—Earth Mission’s largest enrollment ever!
Presenting the new Year 1 class! These 7 E-Tech students will graduate in 2027 and the 13 PA students in 2029.
On Saturday, the leaders and the candidates who were not chosen left for their long journeys back home. The new class was given their supplies for life at RTC—some EM clothing and shoes, bedding, a mosquito net, and a computer tablet. They have started to pump themselves up for the month-long induction ceremony, and the final application hurdle to overcome: bootcamp.
For me, I am excited about getting to know and love my newest group of “children.” And so begins another year at Rain Tree Clinic in remote Karen State.
The Future Has Arrived
Because of your prayer and support, Earth Mission has become one of the most prestigious educational opportunities in Karen State! There are so many highly-qualified applicants eager to transform their country. We receive 70-100 applications per year—but only have room to accept 20-30%.
If you haven’t sponsored a student yet, would you prayerfully consider doing so with your church, business, small group, or family?
For the first time since 2020 (no 2024 graduates due to the pandemic and military coup), we have a full lineup of 5 Physician Associate and 3 Engineering Tech cohorts for a total of 77 students—our largest enrollment in program history!
Our goal is to graduate 75 PAs and 20 E-Techs by 2030. These are the very students who will cross the finish line.
Today, 16% of students are sponsored—thank you! This year, we’re on a mission to fully sponsor all 77 students! From now through the end of 2025, we’re looking for 6 new sponsors each month. Your one-time gift supports a student’s entire year of education.
Sponsors come in all shapes and sizes! From individuals to families, from churches to foundations, and even crowd-funding in memory of a loved one—there are many ways to support these young men and women who are the future of their country.
Will you be one of the 6 this month?
