My name is Mahmoud Haroun, a High School Senior attending STEM Egypt High School which introduces STEM education to the country as a national project from the Ministry of Education and USAID. I am a young man who always tries to take new challenges to enhance his skills and knowledge. I dream and plan to pursue my higher education in the USA and look forward to study biological sciences in an intellectually competent environment.
I was accepted for a precollege summer program organized officially from Yale University. The intensive Yale Young African Scholars (YYAS), which gathers 300 outstanding high school students from all over Africa in 3 countries was an exceptional opportunity for me to experience the atmosphere of college life.
My residential program, which was held from 18-24 August at Arundel School, Harare, Zimbabwe was like a podium. Learned and learners, the past and the present were gathered in a way to predict and shape the future. We received lectures in Leadership, classes in Standardized Tests preparation, and participated in amazing games and workshops by Yale undergraduates. The program brought admission officers and representatives of many Ivy League Universities like Rochester, Brown and Penn and gave us the opportunity to ask and see what an education in these institutions encompasses.
More importantly, it was inspiring to have such exposure to the different backgrounds and cultures of our different countries. It was a chance to interact and meet people with a similar mindset as mine, they are, like me, enthusiastic youth who are prepared to make change in our continent, not only wishing for a change to be made. That was not only raising constructive debate about the task at hand, but also raising aspirations about the united Africa dream. I can see these things go even beyond the goals of the program. That is, the experience has now had an impact on our personalities, our perspective to the world and our role within it. Now I think I am more mature, tolerable and thoughtful of our continents’ potential. That impact may seem small, but I have learnt that It begins with me, It begins with you, It begins with all of us.
Source: http://www.pachikoro.co.zw
