The Emérita Sixto Lugo Scholarship (ESL)

The Emerita Sixto Lugo Scholarship (ESL) was established by Emerita's grandson, a former Mexican international student at Linnaeus University.

The idea of the scholarship is to celebrate and remember the many lives like Emérita's. It was also established to promote the experience at Linnaeus University from which her grandson has benefitted much and for which he is grateful.

Through this scholarship, Mexican international students at the university will be encouraged to continue their efforts and expand their Swedish multicultural experience, as well as the multidisciplinarity of their studies. Additional financial resources at the beginning of a semester abroad will facilitate for Mexican international students to gain cultural, academic and personal experience. Both Swedish and Mexican cultures will benefit from this exchange.

Emerita Sixto Lugo was born on 9 April 1922 in Rubillón, a small stone house village in the Galician mountains. Emerita herded goats and cows, tended the fields, pigs and chickens. She had only two sets of shoes and two dresses: one for Sunday mass and the other for the rest of the week.

When the Spanish Civil War broke out on 17 July 1936, Emerita was fourteen years old. When we were kids, she told us how much Rubillón suffered, despite being such an isolated, poor and unimportant village. Most households had two cows, one or two pigs, some five goats, and some six hens. They would also grow just enough potatoes, wheat, pumpkins and verzas, for the gallego broth, and grind their own flour to bake bread. Just enough to be self-sustainable. Soldiers of every faction would periodically arrive to the village. After counting household members, they would violently take most of the food and leave only what they wrongly considered enough for the villagers to survive. What is more, the soldiers also took every man or male teenager able to carry a rifle. One of Emerita’s cousins, Manuel Amaro Lugo, was killed in battle. Emerita’s twin brother, Avelino, now fourteen would be no exception. Together with his godfather, he managed to escape hidden inside a ship out of Spain. They reached Mexico on 12 February 1937, the fond twins were then separated.

In the villages only the elderly, women, and children were left. Life was poverty and pain. During her childhood and teen years, Emerita endured plenty of fear, a lot of need and suffering. The civil war ended on 1 April 1939 and was followed Franco’s dictatorship, which was to last for forty years.

When Emerita turned twenty-five in 1947, she started working as a tin washer in the mine close by, Mina Estaño de Orense SA. When we were kids, she told us how one unremarkable day, a storm came about. As the mine was located in the mountains, water started to flood the mine quickly. Everyone managed to get out, except Emérita. The raging waters caught her below the dangling rope stairs down the mine, the flood racing upwards. A brave cousin of hers, also from the Amaro branch, got back inside the mine and brought her up over his shoulders, saving her life.

About a year later, on 4 September 1948, Emérita disembarked at the Mexican port of Veracruz, together with her mother Rosa and elder sister María. After a month’s journey across the Atlantic, they stayed in Cuba for eight days before the final leg to Veracruz. Whenever asked about crossing the Atlantic by ship, she would say “I really don’t know, I spent the whole journey in the bottom of the ship, at the infirmary. They had to treat me because I got appendicitis”.

Their final destination from Veracruz was Culiacán, Sinaloa. After twenty-six years living in México, Manuel’s hard work had finally afforded him to pay the Atlantic passage to America for his mother and unmarried sisters María and, the youngest, Emérita. Until then, he had never met his sister Emérita. The other two sisters, Elvira and Hermosinda, were married and remained in Spain.

On 17 September 1952 Emerita married a Mexican, José Cabrera Gutiérrez, in Navolato Sinaloa, just a few kilometers outside Culiacán. He was thirty-eight, from a little hamlet called “El Plan” in Acatlán de Juárez, Jalisco, Mexico. Her married life was not a happy one. After nine years she left her husband and found refuge with her relatives in México City and went on to rear five children on her own. Not an easy task for an immigrant woman during the 60s. Her offspring were María del Carmen, María del Rosario, Wenceslao, María Rosa and José Manuel. Trough innumerable sacrifices and hardships, she managed to provide good education for all of them.

Emérita was not alone in México City; her mother Rosa and older sister María had also left Culiacán, earlier, for the Mexican capital, to setup a furniture store. Once in México City, Emérita was also reunited with her twin brother Avelino, after twenty-four years. By then, he was a paralegal and had married the sister of a moderately famous Mexican female singer. However, Emérita's stay in México City did not last long. The weather and pollution affected the health of Emerita’s sons, in particular the youngest one, who would later become President of Guanajuato State University.

The older sister María had long been the family’s bread winner, especially since arriving to México City. After about two years in México City, an opportunity arose for her. Years before, a fellow Spanish family had founded a furniture store in the town of Salamanca, it the central state of Guanajuato. Salamanca was bustling, growing into a city, in part due to an oil refinery that was inaugurated some ten years earlier. The owners of the furniture store were now going back to Spain, and were willing to allow María to pay for the store in installments, trough a bank loan. Thus, the three women and five children moved to central Mexico. This was around 1963.

A configuration arose in Salamanca. María, godmother of Carmen and Rosario, children of Emérita, worked constantly. María never married and suffered diabetes from a young age. Rosa, “Mama Rosa”, grandmother of Emérita’s kids, was now an old woman. Emérita had to run the household and perform every domestic task by herself. It was not unusual for Emérita to tend to up to twelve people: her children as well as other relatives living with them. In exchange for her labor, María provided support for Emérita and her children, including education.

Over the years, all of Emérita’s children left home and became professionals. They formed families of their own. Now a grandmother, Emérita knitted and watched Mexican TV soap operas. On Saturday evenings, game shows, and variety shows during Sunday nights. In 1975, after a life of hard work, she had saved just enough to afford traveling back to Rubillón in her homeland, 27 years after arriving in Mexico. On her first days in Galicia, she came to realise that she could no longer speak Gallego very well, but after some time she was speaking Gallego fluently again.

She would not stay in Galicia for long. A few months were enough for her to miss her children and grandchildren. Even on her tight budget, she was generous and brought amazing school supplies for her grandchildren. Among them, learning sets for European geography and history. She returned to Spain in 1988 for her last visit to Rubillón. She made this trip with her sister Elvira and her brother-in-law Adolfo, but unfortunately she returned alone because Elvira passed away in Rubillón.

Not long after returning from Galicia, she left to live temporarily in Texas. Her youngest son received a scholarship to pursue graduate and doctoral studies in Texas A&M University at College Station. Her son’s stay in Texas made her travel back and forth a few times between College Station and Salamanca during 1988 and 1993. Some of the stories that reveal Emerita’s character developed during her stay in Texas. For instance, she went on a day trip with her family to NASA’s Johnson Space Center, in nearby Houston. After walking the exhibition, the family decided to go on a tour inside the complex. It was advertised as the “Grand Tour”. Emérita was asked if she wanted to join, she took a minute to think about it, and agreed. Every one jumped in the electric train that took visitors inside the center. After visiting the historical mission control of the Apollo missions, and other landmarks, the train returned to the starting point. Once they had disembarked, “Mamita”, as her grandchildren called Emérita, asked if this had really been the so-called “Grand Tour”. When asked why she was surprised, she answered seriously: “Weren’t we supposed to be taken to the moon?”

It was interesting to ask Emérita about her time in Texas. On one occasion, she shared a memory of a Japanese woman she had befriended over there. “Mamita, how did you know she was Japanese?”, her grandkids asked. “Did she speak Spanish?”. they continued. “No”, answered Emérita. “Did she speak English?”, they asked. “I would not know, I don’t understand English”, said Emerita. “Then how do you know?”, they said. She answered: “Oh, she told me! We spent the entire days chatting. We understood each other perfectly”. She was in her late sixties by then.

After that period, Emérita lived most of the time between Irapuato and Salamanca. She had twelve grand children, seventeen great-grandchildren, and one great-great- granddaughter, with more to come. Emérita continued to take care of the house chores, but always took a break in the afternoon to take a walk with her cane.

Emérita Sixto Lugo, “Mamita”, died at the age of eighty. Just like she wanted, God granted her to die without “having to make bed”. Her remains rested in Irapuato, Guanajuato until March 2022 but on 9 April 2022, on her centennial birthday anniversary, her ashes where placed together with those of her mother and now rest in the crypt of the beautiful temple of San Agustin in Salamanca. She was a strong, working woman, she was disciplined and knew how to save. She always stayed devoted to her family. Emérita understood and practiced duty, loyalty and respect. After her older brother, Manuel, who brought them to Mexico passed away, she only wore black for many years, as a sign of mourning in line with Galician tradition. Emérita used to say “a glass of water and a greeting is never to be denied anyone”. “Mamita” was a courageous woman, who would claim the Galician wine of her youth was the sweetest ever and would never get you drunk. The memory of her and her anecdotes esnures that she continues to be with us, her offspring, who remember her with fondness, admiration and respect.

Humble lives in our ancestry tend to be forgotten in the midst of normalcy. But they should not be forgotten. They inspire because they faced every day challenges, just like us. Emérita always encouraged and found pride in her family’s academic achievements. She lovingly directed her modest and hard-earned financial resources to help her children attain excellence in education, this continued also into her grandchildren’s generation. She was particularly fond of them learning about Europe. Through this scholarship, we honour her values and her memory.

The application for The Emérita Sixto Lugo Scholarship (ESL) autumn semester 2022 is now open. The deadline is 25 May 2022, at 13:00, CET.

Send the application via email to: registrator@lnu.se with the title ”The Emérita Sixto Lugo Scholarship (ESL) HT 2022 Dnr: 2022/1699-2.1.7”. 

Your application should contain:

• Motivational letter, maximum length of 1 500 words, in which you answer the following questions:

1. How will the studies in Sweden benefit your academic and future professional career?
2. What do you expect to learn about the challenges of interdisciplinary and intercultural collaboration while you are in Sweden?
3. Do you already now have an innovative idea regarding how you will make use of your opportunity to study in Sweden?
4. Describe how you have broadened your academic understanding by incorporating knowledge from additional academic disciplines into your main field of study (i.e. academic activities, projects, interdisciplinary courses, etc.)
• Transcript of records from last attended higher education institution.

The assessment of applications is made after the last day to apply. Please see information on the selection process and who is eligible to apply further down this page.

In order to be eligible for the scholarship, a candidate must fulfill the following conditions;

1. Mexican national.

2. Ongoing or previous studies at a Mexican university and/or other higher education institution in Mexico.

3. Grade point average (GPA) of current, or last attended, studies of minimum 7.0 (Mexican higher education institution) or its equivalent (higher education institutions in other countries).

4. Applicant to, or enrolled at, Linnaeus University for the semester/academic year in question, as either:

• officially nominated via ISEP exchange or ISEP-direct
• independent applicant (freemover/ fee-paying)
• officially nominated for exchange studies by an Lnu partner university in Mexico

5. Has applied or is admitted to a full-time programme or courses (minimum 30          ECTS/semester) at undergraduate/bachelor's/first-cycle or          graduate/master's/second-cycle taught on campus Växjö at Linnaeus University. The applicant must study a minimum of one semester full-time during the academic year in question for the application round. The courses/programme must be listed as ‘on campus courses’ i.e. online or distance courses are not eligible.

6. Has applied or is admitted to courses/programme at Lnu primarily focusing (majority of the credits) on one or several of the following subjects:

• Business studies
• Marketing
• Management
• Economics
• Engineering
• Design

7. By applying the applicant must also accept:

• That the evaluation of applications and selection of nominee(s) is done by Lnu in accordance with the criteria for the scholarship.
• That the final selection of recipient(s) is done solely by Jeronimo (henceforth JOC). Applicants must therefore waive any legal rights for challenging the decision and confirm that JOC cannot be held liable in the event that a student is not nominated or selected for the scholarship.
• The conditions regarding use and general handling of personal data at Linnaeus University according to the information valid at Lnu.se at the time of application.
• That the application documents, and the evaluation made by Lnu, is shared with JOC if nominated. For recipients of the scholarship, also proof of the fulfillment of conditions, certificate of registration and arrival must be shared. If requested, a candidate must also send details for money transfer (bank account number or similar) and proof of identity (copy of valid identification card/passport) to JOC.
• That information (applications, documents, emails, etc.) sent to Linnaeus University may be considered public upon request.

1) Motivational letter including (but not limited to) your thoughts on these questions:

• How will the studies in Sweden benefit your academic and future professional career?
• What do you expect to learn from the challenges of interdisciplinary and intercultural collaboration while you are in Sweden?
• Do you already now have an innovative idea regarding how you will make use of your opportunity to study in Sweden?
• Describe how you have broadened your academic understanding by incorporating knowledge on additional academic disciplines to your main field of study (i.e. academic activities, projects, interdisciplinary courses, etc.)

The maximum length of the motivational letter is 1 500 words.

The motivation letter will be given 0, 5, 10 or 15 points 

2) Grades – Grade point average (GPA) from last attended higher education institution (transcript of records):

The applicants with GPA from a Mexican higher education institution will be awarded points according to the point table below. In case the transcript of most recent studies is from another country or educational system, for which a direct comparison with GPA is not possible, an equivalent will be estimated by International Office, Linnaeus University. 

GPA 7,0-7,9= 0 p
GPA  8,0-8,9 = 5 p
GPA 9,0-10,0 = 10 p

3) Level of studies at Lnu where studies at advanced/master's level is weighed higher (10 p) than undergraduate/bachelor's level studies (5 p)

4) The type of study/exchange programme is weighed in the following order; a) students applying via ISEP-exchange or ISEP direct b) independent applicants to Lnu (freemovers/fee-paying students) c) officially nominated students for exchange studies by an Lnu partner university in Mexico.

1) Only candidates with a minimum 5 points for the motivation letter may be nominated for the scholarship

2) The selection criteria will be combined and weighed for a final decision according to:

Candidate Selection Criteria Score (CSCS) = Point Table 1)+2)+3)+4)

3) In case two or more applicants have equal CSCS, the following criteria will be used to separate the applications (in order of preference until all candidates with equal CSCS are separated):

        a) Independent/fee-paying applicants are given priority
        b) Highest score on motivation letter
        c) Highest actual GPA of candidates
        d) Random selection

4) Under the condition that there are eligible and ranked candidates after above measures are taken, Lnu will nominate a minimum of one and a maximum of three candidates per scholarship to Jeronimo. Lnu will always nominate the highest ranked candidate and further decides based on the results from each application round if also the second and/or third highest ranked candidates are nominated.

1) Jeronimo (henceforth JOC) takes the final decision on whether a scholarship is granted for a candidate that Lnu nominates. In case several candidates per scholarship are nominated, JOC may select any of the nominated candidates, regardless of ranking.

2) The conditions regarding payment and transfer are subject to an agreement between JOC and the recipient. The agreement, and any future changes to it, must be approved by Lnu before the application round in question opens. The agreement must contain:

• When and how the payment will be made
• The conditions stating that studies are to be commenced on site at Linnaeus University Campus Växjö before payment is done, and how the recipient should provide proof thereof.
• If there are any conditions regarding repayment of the scholarship to JOC in whole or in part, in case the recipient cancels the studies at Lnu.

3) Candidates are informed that payment is made only to a Mexican bank account, unless mutually agreed between the recipient and JOC.

4) The payment shall not be made to a third party.