On Saturday, September 2nd, 2017, Open Dreams received Mr. Divine Kangami, an African Leadership Academy (ALA) Representative who flew over to Cameroon from South Africa during the weekend to conduct interviews for a MasterCard Foundation Scholarship Award. For each of the four Open Dreams Scholars, the challenging interview lasted for an hour! It was a great experience getting interviewed for an opportunity with the potential to define one’s destiny. We the Scholars did our very best, while competing among ourselves for the scholarship!
Picture: Brain (in red) and Divine, both sharing success tips. Brain was successful in the 2017 ALA Application Process and he is one of only two Cameroonians heading to ALA. Both successful Cameroonians are all from Open Dreams!
At the end of the interview, the ALA delegate shared some very useful tips with all the Open Dream Scholars, beginning with his own personal experiences. They were so inspiring! Some of the success tips he shared were:
-Success is not for the lazy; to succeed you need to make use of every opportunity that comes your way.
-Be involved in community activities. If everyone did, the society would be a much better place.
-You can’t live in isolation; its true you have to strive to be the best but you need experienced people to help you attain your goals. That is where mentorship comes in, and Open Dreams is doing an amazing job!
-Never give up and never give in – it doesn’t matter how life presents itself to you. You can make it if you want really want to.
-Share the Open Dreams vision so that you can help others have access to the various educational opportunities and be veritable ambassadors everywhere you go. That is how you can change mindsets and the status quo!
Firs Picture: I was the lone girl amongst 4 Scholars!
We remain thankful to ALA and the MasterCard Foundation. A new breed of African leaders is being groomed right now! The future is sure to be much brighter.