Below you will find our scholar blog posts – they cover a variety of topics, from arriving in the U.S. to interning with a stellar company to post-graduation dreams.
| This month, a handful of scholars were flown to San Francisco to participate in a world-renowned leadership and public speaking program from Stand and Deliver. Below, the young women give us insight into their feelings during the experience:Sharon“The Stand and Deliver seminar was tremendously enlightening and liberating. The team illustrated how a person’s voices can deliver affirmative perspective to a society. Thus, by using clear, and informative speeches or statements, we have a chance to construct a society that we have been craving for; raising women and other global challenges for a better future. Additionally, seeing a room full of women |
| Mentor Debra’s StoryBarb asked me to be a mentor in 2011. I took a month to decide but soon realized my excitement to make a new friend and connect with another culture was greater than my concern that I didn’t have previous experience supporting a scholar navigating the college application process.Charlotte and I began corresponding that fall. While the process of applying to schools was busier than anticipated, the depth of the connection we felt was a complete joy! Barb is an excellent ‘match maker’.I remember the phone call when Joshua Smith at Whitman College confirmed Charlotte had been awarded |
| We have great news! Four of our seven candidates have been offered full scholarships from top liberal arts colleges and universities!We were able to leverage a small pool of money into almost $1M in scholarship funds. Each scholarship is worth approximately $225,000. Open A Door was able to leverage a small pool of money donated from friends and family into scholarships at top American universities valued at almost $1M.Out of more than 4,100 college and universities in the United States*, the Open A Door Students were accepted into the following schools.— Rina Ntagozera is going to Haverford College in Haverford, |
| We have completed the college application process for the 2012 school year and have to wait until April to hear if our candidates won scholarships. This is the hardest part!The application process was harder than any of us imagined. Transcripts, letters of recommendation, and tax records are not as easily accessed in Rwanda as in the US. The mentors say it was about 10x’s more work than they expected, but also was completely worth it. Most of them feel very strongly about their mentees, believing they will be successful in whatever they do. They have lots of plans and excitement |
| Sheilla: When we started this journey, we didn’t know what to expect from living in a totally different place. Pursing a dream is one thing but having the support and comfort from each other has been the icing to the cake. We are so thankful for how far we have gone and looking forward to all the great things that await us.Flavia: I think this picture summarizes a lot. It includes the picture right at Newark airport when we just landed to the US, the adventure in NYC that continued that same week and also the most current one in |