Sarah Alfonso, Grade 11
UWCEA Arusha Campus
I grew up knowing that education is the only key to success so I always made it my priority. At an early stage in life I always regularly attend my classes and made the best out of my studies. I used to lead my class with very good performance, so any less marks really made me feel bad and this caused me to have a phobia to failure.
When war broke out in my country, June 2015 we left for Uganda immediately. Mom had gotten sponsorship for her university from a certain generous white man. We also had to register in the refugee camp so that we could be legally in Uganda as refugees. This gave me a chance to start all over again in my primary six, with a new syllabus and different environment and meeting new people. So going to UWC will not be the first time for me to encounter extremely different people with different cultures.
My new life in Uganda wasn’t so smooth as we were five kids at home and my dad’s salary was hardly enough to feed us or even pay our school tuition. It was just a trying time but my brave mom never gave up. With dad in south Sudan trying to look for money for our education and house renting, mom was taking care of us and providing us our daily bread and our father in heaven used to bless the works of my parent’s hands. My elder brother and I were in the same class and all that was expected of us was studying hard and good performance.
The change of syllabus did affect our grades a lot but with hard work and determination, we made it and performed very well in our Primary Leaving Examinations. I was the best girl in my class at that time so I would say my determination in education can never be affected by environmental change or even a different curriculum.
I joined high school in 2017. My parents didn’t have enough money to pay all our tuition so the white man who was sponsoring my mom also started to cater for part of our education. Here I met lots of smart students so I really wasn’t the best student, though I was still among the top performers in my class. I only used to do my best and sometimes when I score highly, the school gives bursary to me so it reduced on the burden of paying our fees.
I did meet a lot of new people with really different perspectives and personalities. As young as I was, I had to be very open-minded to be able to associate with them. I have very good friend making skills so I could easily make friends.
I think all of the things I have gone through so far have prepared me for my UWC journey and I guess am ready for it and am going to use every lesson I have leant through the years to make a positive impact at UWC and have the best of my time with studies and my friends. Am really passionate about my education and I suggest every person should do the same. I also still believe that education is the key to success.
When war broke out in my country, June 2015 we left for Uganda immediately. Mom had gotten sponsorship for her university from a certain generous white man. We also had to register in the refugee camp so that we could be legally in Uganda as refugees. This gave me a chance to start all over again in my primary six, with a new syllabus and different environment and meeting new people. So going to UWC will not be the first time for me to encounter extremely different people with different cultures.
My new life in Uganda wasn’t so smooth as we were five kids at home and my dad’s salary was hardly enough to feed us or even pay our school tuition. It was just a trying time but my brave mom never gave up. With dad in south Sudan trying to look for money for our education and house renting, mom was taking care of us and providing us our daily bread and our father in heaven used to bless the works of my parent’s hands. My elder brother and I were in the same class and all that was expected of us was studying hard and good performance.
The change of syllabus did affect our grades a lot but with hard work and determination, we made it and performed very well in our Primary Leaving Examinations. I was the best girl in my class at that time so I would say my determination in education can never be affected by environmental change or even a different curriculum.
I joined high school in 2017. My parents didn’t have enough money to pay all our tuition so the white man who was sponsoring my mom also started to cater for part of our education. Here I met lots of smart students so I really wasn’t the best student, though I was still among the top performers in my class. I only used to do my best and sometimes when I score highly, the school gives bursary to me so it reduced on the burden of paying our fees.
I did meet a lot of new people with really different perspectives and personalities. As young as I was, I had to be very open-minded to be able to associate with them. I have very good friend making skills so I could easily make friends.
I think all of the things I have gone through so far have prepared me for my UWC journey and I guess am ready for it and am going to use every lesson I have leant through the years to make a positive impact at UWC and have the best of my time with studies and my friends. Am really passionate about my education and I suggest every person should do the same. I also still believe that education is the key to success.
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