Life may seem unfair sometimes. While a lot of people are looking for funding for their studies, someone is being spoilt with the options of six fully-funded and two partial international scholarships.
After his first encounter with a computer at the age of 13, Kaleab Alemayehu found himself in a long-term romance with the computing world. This has lead him from designing an award-winning project at the Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, lending his skills at his fathers’ company, to winning six fully-funded scholarships and two partial scholarships to study abroad for Masters in Korea, Italy, France, Spain, and Hungary.
In his words, “The harder you work on your dream, the greater you will feel when you achieve it.”
Read the transcript of the interview below.
Tell us about these scholarships you won?
Kaleab: It’s about six scholarships that I have won which are fully funded. The first one is an Erasmus Mundus program. It is given at three different institutions in 3 countries in Europe (France, Spain and Hungary). The other scholarships are the Invest Your Talent in Italy (Universita de Pisa), and the Italian Government scholarship (University of Messina). The next one is, the Korean government scholarship. I was admitted to Seoul National University, which is a top university in Korea to study engineering and the other to study Computer science and engineering.
Are you going to take the whole scholarships or would you have to select some and let go the others?
Kaleab: Yeah, I have to select exactly one. I cannot take more than one. I think most of the schools that I’ve been admitted are really great. The disciplines are what I would want to study, but I have to select one as I have said. So I think I would go for the Erasmus Mundus Scholarship program because it’s in the specialisation that I am really in love with. Very prestigious institution. Plus the Erasmus Mundus is a wonderful program, it also has a generous scholarship package, so I think I’d be good with it.
What is it about you that gave you the advantage to acquire all these scholarships?
Kaleab: Maybe it could be my academic performance and some awards. Actually, I have the best degree in Computer Science from Addis Ababa University, which is the largest and the oldest university in Ethiopia. I had a CGPA of 3.93 which was the highest CGP from my college and there are also some awards that I have gained during my study. But beyond that, I think the most important thing is how I presented myself to the committee. I have calculated and clearly stated my strengths and my plan, and I think I have shown them why I’m worth it. I think that’s what made me stand out from the others.
Let’s talk about how you got to know about these scholarships in the first place.
Kaleab: I think one is from word of mouth. The other is through a professor in my school and the rest is through your amazing platform, Afterschool Africa.
That’s good to know. Which of the platform are you more active with on Afterschool Africa? Is it the mobile app or the website?
Kaleab: As a matter of fact, I have used all of them and I think I have used a lot the mobile app. I really love your platform because it has an elegant user interface, it is very easy to navigate. And then above all, it’s very organized. Anyone can easily get the scholarship. I have actually recommended it to a lot of friends and colleagues and it’s really a great job that you are doing. Keep it up!
Thank you for that. Did you apply any strategy in applying for this number of scholarships?
Kaleab: Actually, I had not a clearly stated plan, but I know that I have to pursue my study, next year. So I was very dedicated applying to numerous scholarship programs. But when I apply, I don’t just apply to try, I applied to win. I made sure that I do everything that makes the selection committee select or choose my application. I have put a lot of hard work into it.
And your hard work paid eventually.