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
