When I first heard about the program from my friend, a 2017 alumnus of the program, I thought that this is an opportunity way out of my league and it wasn’t within my reach in a way that I wouldn’t fit in nor stand a chance to get through to the program but my friend encouraged me for he believed within every difficulty lies opportunity so I decided to take up the challenge and apply for the program and to my surprise I was among the few 300 out of 2000 students who got through to the program and it was one of the most eye-opening opportunities yet to come.
Before attending YYAS, I had no idea where to start with my college applications, it was like having a dream but not knowing what path to take to get to where you want to reach. It might have been just a ten-day program but for sure it had an impact of a lifetime for after the program not did I only believe that there was still a lot to do to utilize my full potential as an African scholar but also learn a lot about colleges and how to apply for colleges by coming across college students, admission officers and other college faculty members. Most importantly, I got the chance of meeting fellow African scholars with talents, dreams and visions I had not come across ever in my life and it is from these fellow scholars I learnt, together we can make impacts to the world like no other.
The best part of the program was the workshops we had every single day with one of the college students where we got to express what we had learnt throughout the day and challenges if any. We also got a personal touch on what life in college looks like and the kind of challenges the students face so as to be well prepared in pursuing our college studies. Things like College Board, The SAT and many more aspects were completely new to most of us and it was this program which opened our eyes and gave us an insight on what they mean and how to approach them. Not to mention the communication, academic, leadership and team-building skills we learnt from the program and the life-long priceless friendships and connections which serve as greater opportunities throughout the continent and overseas too and the enjoyable amusing moments we had. It did not end there, we were also paired with mentors who would guide us through our college application process.
Coming back to Tanzania, I was fuelled with a lot of energy to spread knowledge about this tremendous opportunity and increased my involvement in motivational talks as well as charity work to make a bigger difference in my community. YYAS is a blessing which was bestowed upon me and for that I would like to thank all the people involved in making it a success for me. I believe this is a blessing that other students out there deserve and that is why we take our time to spread this message to all you amazing students out there, now is your time, cherish this opportunity and shine like a newly born star. God bless YYAS, God bless Africa.
