For the first time in our office, we have an alumni called for more than three interviews at different universities. She was called to an interview by Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), United States International University Africa (USIU-Africa), the Higher Education Full Teaching scholarship from St Jude’s and EARTH University- Costa Rica. How amazing is that!
Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to Jesca. Jesca’21 did her Community Service Year (CSY) last year, and during that time, she also began applying for tertiary scholarships like many of our alumni. When we asked her how she felt about getting called to many interviews, she said, “It’s not a small thing for me. I just feel God’s hand in my life, it’s more of an achievement to me, and these interview invitations have made me more confident that I can get whatever I need; as long as I put my prayers, time, and efforts into it.”
Jesca is now enrolled at KNUST in Ghana, studying Logistics, Supply Chain Management, and Business Information Technology. In her third year, she will major in Business Information Technology.
As we mentioned earlier, Jesca applied to three different international scholarships. We asked her how she found the essay questions, she replied, “I admit that scholarship questions are very tricky. At first, I got a hard time, but I found it interesting after researching and getting help from experienced people.” Jesca did not give up on the applications. We remember seeing her in our office quite a few times, and the advice she would give students applying is not to give up “Applications are so long and tricky and need a lot of time. The major weapon is to be patient and give all your efforts; asking for help is ok. Also doing research on what you are applying for is important because you will need that to answer some questions properly.” Jesca put in a lot of work in her essays and applications and her persistence paid off.
Jesca is a resilient individual “If I want something that is important to me nothing will stop me, not time, not money, not even myself. I guess God put that character in me to take me somewhere.” That is why she did not give up when applying for scholarships.
We want to encourage our alumni applying for scholarships to not give up. Sometimes the applications can be stressful however, if you take a step back and try again all will be well. Remember to ask for help if something is not clear. Jesca was not shy when asking for help, “the Alumni Office, during my entire scholarship application Mr Enock and Ms Irene went through a lot of trouble because I was always at the office asking questions on how to write this and that, I sent a million emails and frankly speaking, they were always answered on time. Also, they helped us with the interview sessions, they organized mock interviews.” Jesca even asked her classmates to help, she credits Daudi, Eline, Cathbert, Veronica Sabas, and Abdul Kadir. Jesca took advantage of the Alumni Office and greatly benefited from it.
Jesca shared, “Economically, Ghana is somehow advanced, but their currency value (Ghana cedis) regularly fluctuates. Socially, Ghanaians value peace so much, they are so social and peaceful. They also mind their business which is very nice because people don’t gossip so much. On the contrary, it’s bad because if you have a problem even if it’s so vivid it’s hard for them to notice like the way it is in Tanzania unless you ask for help.” Eating is important. We wanted to know about Ghanaian food and Jesca’s favorite food, “my favorite is “redred” which is a mixture of fried plantain and beans stew. What I like about Ghana meals is that they always add a boiled egg or chicken. Their meals are so nutritious.”
Do you want to want help with scholarship applications? The Alumni Office is here to support you. Email us at alumni@schoolofstjude.co.tz or call us at 0766 200 609. Before coming to the office or forwarding an email we encourage alumni to go through all the scholarship requirements and if they have essays, they should have someone else look at it before it gets to us.
