Talented Yngwie Segwabe Benefits From Yale University's Africa Program
Correspondent | Monday August 20, 2018 13:47
Segwabe recently returned from a 10-day mentorship programme in Rwanda hosted by famous United States of America (USA) university, the University of Yale, which runs a programme in Africa targeting talented young leaders to impart life skills, and most importantly to arm them with knowledge and skills on how they can access scholarship funding to be able to learn and live in the USA.
The Yale University initiative targets bright students like Yngwie Segwabe, who is currently doing Form 4, and is eyeing to break into university life.
At his Newton International school, Segwabe excels in almost every subject- from the sciences to the arts.
He says the mentorship programme held in the lake town of Gashura, Rwanda helped him realise that one can take the arts and the sciences for the under-graduate programme in the USA, and there is nothing wrong with that.
“ As much as I have been thinking of pursuing a career in Engineering, I’m also a creative person who enjoys current affairs and debating; I’m a member of my school’s debating club,” shares the student who is also a deputy school headboy and the next headboy at his school next year.
Yngwie says the mentorship programme did not end with the Rwanda programme, but continues to benefit him even while back in the country through correspondences.
Yngwie was one of 150 talented African young leaders that converged in Rwanda for the programme that is administered by Yale staff and more than 20 Yale undergraduate and graduate students — most of whom hail from the continent themselves — who serve as instructors and mentors to the participants by leading discussions on a variety of topics ranging from the arts and the humanities, social sciences, and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).
Yngwie wishes the opportunities offered by the Yale Africa programme were made available to many Batswana so they can try their luck every year and benefit.
“ What I learnt when I got there is that it is not all about being amongst the smartest, but more of creativity. I see myself as a creative person; also the opportunities that exist in the USA universities are not just for the academically gifted; it can be sports, the arts, one just has to be creative and have a vision,” he advised.
Yngwie says he learnt about the programme from a teacher and church mate who also happened to be a friend of his mother.
“I must thank my mother because when I discussed it with her in our privacy, she was so determined for me regardless of resources”.
Yngwie also says he has his church, the Trinity Church at Main Mall to thank, because they did not only pray for him before departure, but paid 50% of his trip’s ticket. It is a church I have been going to from a young age. I see this trip as a calling from God.
“As a young person, I see church as moulding people; that when you go to church, you are never short of help, because you have parents, and you learn from others,“enthused Yngwie, who also adds that his family members and friends were very helpful as they contributed lots of money, while Air Botswana also sponsored the trip.
According to Yngwie, the programme enables young Africans to be aware of incredible opportunities out there for them through direct engagement with participating instructors who have successfully navigated the university and financial aid application process and are eager to provide advice to others on how they can be tapped.