YYAS Family- Nkiinzi Cynthia Damalie

I was just wobbling down the stairs, and little did I know, it was my teacher sharing an idea which she thought would actually be beneficial to me. So, she ended up advising me to apply for the Yale Young African Scholars Program. Never did it cross my mind that this would create indelible memories, in my life and be a throbbing experience in my life. It cannot be left out, that this has been a gateway to so many other opportunities in my life. Truth be told, the application process was somewhat difficult owing to the fact that I had minimal computer knowledge and limited internet access, due to unavoidable circumstances, hence making it quite rigorous for me to fill the application form. My teacher and aunt often times kept supporting and motivating me. This steadily pushed me to finish my application to the best of my ability.

I was in uttermost shock, upon learning that I was among the lucky 300 students attending the programme. On arrival at Tema International School, the facilitators were so hospitable. I met different people from different cultures and backgrounds. The most exciting bit about the first day was the games we played. We made one big circle with each person's shoes in front of them.

Depending on the category of people that were called out, you had to run within the circle. It was so amazing and to sum it up was the rock, papers, scissors game. I emerged the champion.



There was a fixed and rigorous timetable of how the program was going to run for the remaining days. It included breakfast, lectures, SAT lessons, lunch, seminars, university guidance, enrichment program and so on. Hearing from the Yale faculty gave me a feel of how a university setting in the U.S.A is like. The time I enjoyed the most was workshop time. We were put in families comprising of about 8 scholars from the same region. My family leader was Mpiira.

During our first meeting, the atmosphere was quite tense but it became more and more interesting as the days went by. We became so close that there was a day we didn't meet as it was movie night and I almost cried.

It has been several months down the road ever since the program ended but it seems like it was just yesterday when I was in Ghana. In this experience, I got a chance to associate with outstanding students around the continent. We shared our goals and aspirations for the future and how we would cause the continent to grow. At some point, we were in the same place for those 10 days but right now we are spread out in different parts of the continent bringing about change in all possible ways. I believe we are inspiring others and being great leaders wherever we are.

In conclusion, the most exciting thing about this program is that it did not end after those ten days in TIS. We were given mentors to work with for the next twelve months. I cannot go without saying, the experience I had, is engraved somewhere within me, and being an ambassador would be the least thing I could ever do to show my sincere gratitude towards the program.



Nkiinzi Cynthia Damalie, a proud YYAS Alumna