My Experience at YYAS 2017 in Zimbabwe

Peter Amprako (second from left) with his fellow YYAS 2017 participants in Zimbabwe.

The 2017 Yale Young African Scholar Program (YYAS) in Zimbabwe was an insightful, exciting, and life-changing experience for me. My participation in this education program exposed me to many new things and gave me a good introduction to an international learning environment.

Firstly, this program granted me the opportunity to see the world outside my own country, Ghana. I was fortunate to interact with other youth from different African countries and cultures. I learned to express myself in a university-like setting and share my knowledge and experiences with others.

During the program, I also learned about leadership and teamwork through enrichment activities, such as the lily pad game and the leadership compass activity. There was great satisfaction learning how to work with others in team exercises and drawing upon each other’s ideas to complete a task.

Additionally, I was informed about the opportunities to pursue my education in the United States and elsewhere. Initially, I had no clue about these possibilities for tertiary education, but with this exposure at YYAS I learned so much! The test preparation organized was also really transforming. I gained new testing skills related to reading comprehension, essay writing, and math. I became more conscience with time management, solving complex mathematics problems, and reasoning logically. The social topics discussed, as well as science themes and games, have made me a more well-rounded thinker.

To sum it up, the YYAS program was a great platform for me to think critically and outside the box, confront issues in my society head on, and develop necessary leadership skills to succeed in the classroom and in life. These experiences will surely help me to achieve my future goals and contribute to the development of my country, and that of Africa.

Jean Lambert Niyomugaba’s YYAS 2017 Experience

I am very grateful for this opportunity to share my Yale Young African Scholars Program (YYAS) experience with all of you who are reading this blog!

YYAS was my first time leaving my family for such an extended period, apart from time I spend in boarding school. I met so many other young people like me from all corners of Africa, and I had a chance to share with them my homeland, Rwanda. YYAS exposed me to many talented African secondary school students, all of whom are future community leaders. We studied together, shared experiences, and exchanged knowledge and ideas. This instilled in me an incredible awareness of self and adoption of new cultures as a common tool for leadership.

Jean Lambert (right) with friends from YYAS 2017 in Rwanda.

I was greatly appreciative of the YYAS staff and Yale student instructors who helped to facilitate the program, and for their brilliant ingenuity, generosity, and kindness.

When I first arrived at the program I was very moved by how the YYAS team welcomed students and made each and every one of us feel at home. When I received the schedule, I was pleasantly surprised to see so many interesting activities and I wondered how we could accomplish them in such a short period of time!

The Discussion Section: I had never experienced this sort of learning environment before in my entire life. Following each lecture, students had a chance to point out different issues and raise their own opinions and ideas. This opened my eyes to see beyond my home country, Rwanda. We took time to better understand the world around us and to think and to see things in ways that could lead to better development, thus finding solutions to great challenges our respective nations face. YYAS encouraged us to go beyond the local, and we were challenged to think global!  

Workshops: At the end of each day participants broke out into their different “family” groups of 6-8 students with a Yale student lead instructor. I had never met people who were so interested in my life! In addition to learning more about university life, how to write a college essay, and other university application strategies, I learned how to create an “elevator pitch”. I am now able to effectively introduce myself to any person I am meeting for the first time!

University Guidance: I loved this part so much! I learned A LOT and it gave me the opportunity to ask my many questions about different universities and the general application process. On the Admissions Day I was so grateful to meet more than five university admission officers from the United States in person! I got to ask them about their schools and learn about their various academic programs and campus life. I am now prepared more than ever to take on the university application process and common application.

Test Prep:  It was such a great experience to sit for the SAT exam! It was my first time to take this test but I learned so much. Even after YYAS I am still practicing my skills and trying to increase my score for the real thing! We were taught reading comprehension skills, essay writing techniques, and mathematics by a very nice tutor named Esther, who shared with us so many tips and strategies for tackling the test.

Seminars: I took three seminars led by the Yale student instructors. Each class was so unique and totally transformed my way of thinking. The seminars I took were:

1. (Should we have) Democracy in Africa?
2. Religion and Politics in the 21^st Century
3. Renewable Energy: Theory vs. Practice

Talent Show: How could I forget about the talent show? This took place on the last night of the program. I greatly enjoyed listening to and seeing my talented peers perform—especially those who shared their cultural dances and songs! No one felt embarrassed or intimidated. It was such a welcoming environment and an effective way of sharing our very rich cultures with one another. As I watched each performance, I thought to myself: we are the leaders of Africa!

It is hard for me to believe that that experience has passed, but I look ahead knowing that I have now built bridges with peers from other African countries. I have no doubt about the deep, enduring friendships made at YYAS, made easier by social media which links us together! These lifelong connections and experiences will be paid forward as we continue to learn, grow, and give back to the world. I highly recommend YYAS to anyone and everyone!

Let me use this opportunity to call upon all of you who want to have your lives transformed and see your dreams become reality: please don’t miss your chance to apply for this program!

Thank you.

Alumna Recounts Her YYAS 2016 Experience

As I stood in the registration line, trying to look for a few familiar faces from my school, I felt nervous, yet excited. It was finally happening! I remember standing in front of a boy called Nenfort, who had trouble registering because he preferred another name on his tag. I found him quite amusing but kept quiet, too shy to introduce myself. Little did I know that he'd become the clown of my workshop group that week at YYAS.

Rumbidzo Dangarembizi (second from right) with her friends at YYAS 2016.

When my friend Fadzi and I welcomed two South African girls, Felicity and Thenjiwe, and helped them with their bags on arrival, we never thought that they would become two of our closest friends at the program. I still treasure their relationships to this today. In the evenings before bed, we'd sit in each other's rooms talking about the day and anything and everything, like we'd known each other our whole lives.

It was amazing seeing people from all over the continent and the beautiful blend of accents filling the air each day, making me feel right at home. There were so many names to learn throughout the week. I felt as though I met someone new every day! I found myself meeting new people even on the very last day.

Breakfast was one of my favorite times of the day. Our table was never shy of jokes and laughs, which always came from the Zimbabweans and the Nigerians. The Nigerians amused us with their love for jollof rice and their confusion over why we didn't have plantain in Zimbabwe. By the end of the week, we all felt like a family.

The talent show was an exciting showcase, too, especially when everyone gathered on the stage to dance. In that moment, watching everyone perform, we were all the same. We all spoke the same language as we danced to Davido's music. When people performed it was interesting to see the uniqueness and individuality they all possessed, whether they performed spoken word, sang, danced, or did stand-up comedy.

I believe that the program really opened the door for students to pursue tertiary education, especially at American universities. The Yale students who served as instructors during the program were all African, just like me. They all came across as kind, loving, and helpful. The advice they gave us in our workshop group, admissions sessions, and seminars was truly valuable. The goals that they had reached by being accepted into such a prestigious university didn't seem so distant anymore. All the information that they fed us throughout the week cleared my confusion and gave me a definite path.

I'd encourage any of you who are unsure of what you would like to do in the future, or who want to go for university, to apply to the program,. The lessons you'll learn at the program are invaluable and life-changing. Please don't pass up the opportunity. It is definitely worth going for the experience of a lifetime!

YYAS - the most indelible expeirence of my life

 Sekou, on right, with friends at YYAS-2016 in Ghana

Yale Young African Scholars Program (YYAS) has been the most indelible experience of my life. It was my first time to have left Liberia to visit another country for an educational program. I admired so much my interaction with young, talented and like-minded high school students from the length and breadth of Africa. Everyone came from different backgrounds with different experiences and lifestyles, which contributed to the overall diverse nature of my YYAS experience.

YYAS was in one way a major eye opener for me on global matters, and on the other hand, a robust introduction to U.S. university preparations. There were several admissions representatives from some of the most prestigious universities giving insights on U.S. admissions procedures. As though that was not enough, the fun associated with all the YYAS activities made it a truly enjoyable and stress-free experience. I always feel nostalgic whenever I remember playing the slippers games and running around with people from over 25 African nations, as though they were all my family, like brothers and sisters. The cultural night on the last evening of YYAS-- where we watched the many beautiful talents and cultures of every single country represented-- made me want to refuse returning to my country so soon!

My YYAS experience was the only time I realized that hearing different opinions from different perspectives can all be right in given circumstances. The discussion sections were an awesome time to exercise my intellectual muscles. Everyone offered different views about issues, each one providing a specific suggestion to addressing a particular challenge. When all combined together, this method can be a powerful solution to solve any problem on earth.

The workshop sections were a unique experience where I drafted for the first time my statement of purpose and shared it with my colleagues from South Africa, Ethiopia, Botswana, and Tanzania. I also learned a lot about the U.S. Common Application, letters of recommendation, interviews and other university application procedures. Though I left YYAS more than five months ago, I feel like I’m still at YYAS every single day because of the network of amazing, everlasting friends I made during the program, whom I now interact with on the Alumni Network Facebook group and on various social media platforms.

Finally, the YYAS mentorship program connected me to inspirational figures who are guiding me on a daily basis and will continue to serve as my mentors throughout my life. In total, I would describe YYAS as a one-week transformative journey-- a journey that marked my transition from intellectual childhood to an adult understanding of global mindsets, an appreciation of diversity and to a powerful network for my educational advancement.

Sekou Jabateh, Liberia

My YYAS Experience

Sope (on the right) with a new YYAS friend

MY YYAS EXPERIENCE

Honestly, I never thought I would get into YYAS when I applied. I was just the fourteen year-old girl who played basketball, had good, but not great grades. I was kind of scared, not telling anyone about my application until I got accepted, not really believing the acceptance letter in front of my eyes were mine.

My YYAS experience was a mix of emotions. It was scary meeting so many people from Yale University, a place I had only heard of. It was also fun making new friends from all over Africa, seeing people from places I’d only heard of on the news, playing games with people I didn’t know even existed. It was exhilarating sharing experiences and discussing with fellow African students, and meeting kids from other schools. It was silly, seeing university students whom you’d expect to be uptight having fun like they were ten year-olds, making jokes and playing goofy games with us during family time. It was also saddening, saying goodbye to those wonderful people at the end of the week, people I’d never thought I’d be so attached to after seven days. The YYAS program was one experience that I would love to have over and over again. My experience was a bitter-sweet one because it brings a wave of nostalgia every time I remember it, as remember the awesome people I might never see again, but it’s sweet because I would never trade that experience for anything in the world.

Sope Olusegun-Lartey

Nigeria

YYAS 2016