EducationScholarsScholarships

The Amiable Excellent Mind

Sharing is caring!

Winning a scholarship requires an amiable spirit. Being amiable ignites in you the spirit that is friendly with people.

An amiable person is someone that knows how to build relationships along the journey of applications. You need to build quality relationships with people that have secured a scholarship, this will serve as a guide for you.

Today, we have an amiable scholar in the house. Lets get to meet her.

Welcome to honournaija_blog, can we meet you?

I am excited to be here. My name is Kendra Jumbo, a Commonwealth Shared Scholarship Alumni, a Seventh-day Adventist and I am from Nigeria.

What inspired you to seek scholarship and to study outside Nigeria?

Scholarships are great opportunities to study stress-free without worrying about funding your studies, it was also a chance for me to make valuable lifelong connections and experience a different culture and education system from what I was used to. Studying abroad is capital intensive and I could not shoulder that responsibility, so I applied for scholarships abroad.

What were the challenges you faced while applying for scholarships?

I will say I faced two major challenges which were electricity and time. Scholarship applications are almost a full time job that involved lots of research and surfing the internet. Many times electricity was erratic and I would wait until I could power my computer to start working again. Also, time is of the essence on this journey as almost all, if not all scholarships have deadlines which an applicant cannot afford to miss. However, by the grace of God I was able to overcome all these and submit some applications.

Lovely. Were you rejected?? how did you handle it? share your experience.

I got more rejections than acceptances. But as they say, all one needs is one ‘yes’. Rejections or love letters as we nicknamed them are hard and one thing is certain, one gets used to it with time.

When I got my first rejection I was really sad because it takes a lot to submit just one application and being rejection is a hard pill to swallow. What kept me going was submitting more applications and looking forward to their responses. Also, I trusted God’s words that the plans He has for us are perfect so I knew my yes would eventually come. I will still reiterate that the first rejections are the toughest as one gets used to them with time but I hope people don’t get to that point of getting used to rejections.

True words ma. How did you feel when you got a yes? Share your experience.

The day I received my scholarship nomination email, I felt numb. I couldn’t scream or do anything. I was shocked as I was not expecting it. All other schools I applied to had sent me rejection or reserve emails, so I had no much hope for the final one. I read the email over three times before reality set in. I cried and called my mum and my mentor to tell them. It was so surreal. I still remember that day.

I can imagine. From your experience, what are the needful things to be done before securing a scholarship?

I cannot overemphasise the need to join a community of prospective scholars. This will make the journey easier and interesting. You will lay hands on useful information and free materials. Following scholars on social media and asking to be added to groups is really important.

Also, basic documents are very important. One needs to have their international passport, degree certificate, and transcript. Stay in touch with former lecturers so one doesn’t have difficulty securing reference letters. Next is to do a lot of research. There are so many scholarship websites and channels on YouTube.

I talk about the common shared scholarship on my YouTube channel as well. There are many free information online. Finally, go ahead and apply. Don’t wait until you can perfect your essay writing. You get better as you apply, you learn from your mistakes and you submit stronger applications every time.

Any platform that students can get scholarships from? please share.

Well, honournaija_blog is a website you can visit for scholarship openings. Also, I can suggest scholars that share scholarship content on Twitter and LinkedIn such as Jumbo Kendra, Victor Agboga, Aaron Akpu, Oludayo Sokunbi, Mercy Ojetunde, Oluwaseun Alayi, Sunday Okafor, Samuel Abayi. Some of these people also have YouTube channels. Once you find one or two people, you will definitely meet more.

Studying outside Nigeria, how does it feel?? Stressful, tasking or quite with ease? Share your experience.

I can only tell from my perspective and experience and it was an amazing experience. Despite finishing as one of the best in my class, I also had opportunities for extracurricular activities where I won several awards and had the opportunity to undertake a paid summer research internship program. For me, the academic aspect was not difficult as I had God on my side and I was ready to shoulder any difficulties. My city was very immigrant friendly so I didn’t face any form of racism and I adjusted very quickly. However, I was facing a health challenge which kept me indoors for most of the time and those days were the most challenging. I was able to stay strong by God’s grace and friends who stood by me. So, I would advise you make friends and don’t try to do it all by yourself. Overall, it was a very nice experience as I only had to focus on my studies as everything was taken care of.

What are your words of advice to intending scholarship applicants.??

Start applying now and pray before you submit each application. The place of God and Grace can not be over emphazised. A lot of people keep procrastinating and saving scholarship websites until deadlines pass. If you are a first time applicant, do not be shy to ask previous scholars if they can review your essays for you. Even if they do not have the time, ask other people. Watch lots of guidance videos on YouTube and apply them where and when necessary.

Academically, what was your experience transcending from elementary school up to the University level?

My story is not really the cliché hard to soft life one but I have been privileged to have parents who have catered for me all through to university level and still support my dreams till date. God has been so gracious and has guided and provided all these years. I did not necessarily have to assist in training myself even though I rendered some little services while in university to make some extra cash but it was only because I wanted to. However, I appreciate and celebrate everyone fighting through thick and thin to run this race to the finish line and I pray that God will bless and empower everyone!

Wow, exciting. Thank you for coming. Any word for Honournaija_blog?

Thank you for all that you do for prospective scholars and I hope you keep up the good works.

Thank you so much for offering value ma. Thank you for coming.

 

Related Articles

2 Comments

Leave a Reply

Check Also
Close
Back to top button
%d bloggers like this: