My name is Rauda Salihs, an alumni from the 2016 Yale Young African Scholars Program (YYAS) organised in Ghana. When my participation in the YYAS program ended, I assumed it was my sole responsibility to pursue my dreams to study abroad and I had no idea where to start from…but that was a lie! I was introduced to Ahaspora (the Ghana mentoring partner for YYAS), which turned things around for me. The Ahaspora mentoring team assigned me to a mentor who began our mentoring relationship with a conversation about my future aspirations. This conversation helped me to decide the path I wanted to take, which was to apply to colleges/universities abroad.
Although, my mentor was unavailable at a point, I still enjoyed the privilege of being a mentee on the Ahaspora Mentoring Program. I received support from the Ahaspora Operations team through consistent check-ins, calls, emails, and whatsapps messages. These check-ins became important to me because there were times when I was reluctant to complete the tedious college application processes, but the support from Team Ahaspora kept me on track.
In the end, I managed to follow through with my dreams of acquiring an undergraduate degree outside Ghana after graduating from high school. I successfully secured a scholarship to study at African Leadership University in Rwanda, where I am currently studying.
YYAS and Ahaspora have played a vital role in my life and my career grooming process while broadening my network… During my relationship with the Ahaspora network, I got to intern with the Ahaspora team during last year’s YYAS Educator Conference. I have also recently secured another internship with a prestigious consulting firm in Ghana (run by an Ahasporan), which I am looking forward to during my summer holidays.
All these experiences with Ahaspora makes me grateful and excited for an amazing future. I encourage other high-schoolers to be a part of the Ahaspora Mentoring program. Thank you Team Ahaspora!
