By Sela Kasepa
On the night of 11 March, 2016 I woke up to a phone
call and my dream became a reality.
 |
| Sela Kasepa |
I couldn’t
believe my ears; Harvard was calling, had April fool’s day come early this
year? The response was, Sela. Just in case you think you were dreaming or your
parents think it was a prank, you were not and it is not.
Looking forward to welcoming you to Harvard next
fall. Congratulations!
By the way
the name is Sela Kasepa, a Zambian girl from ChaChaCha, Kitwe and this is how I
got into Harvard.
It all began in August 2015 when I received one of
the most important calls of my life. Little did I know that what seemed like a
mundane call from the Zambian Institute for Sustainable Development would
change my life? This NGO had awarded me a scholarship which enabled me complete
my high school education at Fatima Secondary School with 10 distinctions in 10
subjects. The ZISD Executive
Director, Mr. Peter Lungu was inviting me to
participate in their SAT program.
The SAT is a college entrance exam used for
admission into universities in the United States. Until then I was just another
high school graduate with excellent grades but no funding for university; life
had played a joke on me but I was not laughing. I had done my fair share of
trekking from door to door, I was worn out and so were my shoes but with this
call I could see light at the end of the tunnel.
I was elated and jumped at the opportunity to
return to the classroom after my two year university search had come to a stall.
The thought of attending school in America excited
me, not for the glamor of the place, but for the boundless possibilities it
would avail to me to pursue my dream career
–
Aerospace
Engineering
.
This excitement was short-lived. ZISD’s SAT program
is about one of the most rigorous courses I have taken; actually that is an
understatement it was baptism by fire. This regimented training consisted of
daily tests in English and Maths in a short time span.
NEVER EVER
GIVE UP, was a phrase
that was emphasized by Coach Jimmy Valvano in 30 for 30: Survive and Advance, a
movie that the ZISD team showed
Us.
These nuclear words have stayed with me. In spite
of insurmountable adversity and against improbable odds, never should you give
up on your dream, passion or goal; it might take years to attain your dreams,
but if you don’t give up, you can reach out, touch, and ultimately embrace your
dreams. In the end, all this hard work paid off, I aced the SAT and obtained a
perfect score in the subject test.
I did not intend on applying to Harvard, because I
never thought I could get admitted; lucky for me, I had people who believed in
me more than I did. In the words of Isaac Newton, if I have been able to see
further it is by standing on the shoulder of giants.
When most people were going to New Year’s Eve parties,
I was grappling with the decision on whether to apply to Harvard. At that moment,
I received a call from Mr. Lungu following up on my Harvard application which
prompted me to draft an application – mostly to get him out of my hair.
My first application cycle to U.S universities was
disappointing, I got waitlisted by Stanford and Gettysburg College and was
admitted into Merrimack College and Michigan State University but without a scholarship
to enable me attend. However, this application cycle I was admitted into
Stanford, M.I.T., Michigan State University, University of California Berkeley
and Harvard with all offering scholarships.
It is without saying that I chose to attend
Harvard. Many a time, we are the cause of our own ruin. We belittle ourselves,
and hinder our own advancement, thus setting ourselves on a path of
self-destruction. My father saved me from this path through his belief in my
innate capabilities, his high expectations of me, and his willingness to
sacrifice his time to help me with my challenges. I owe much of my achievement
to ZISD, for it gave me the best test prep, helped me with all my fees, and
provided me with a family that truly cared. These factors greatly influenced my
mentality, I applied to the big schools I feared, I was challenged to take on
new opportunities, and I ultimately managed to attain my dream.
Let your dreams change your reality, don’t let
reality change your dreams. The road to success is riddled with many potholes,
but we should endure them, pick ourselves up when we fall, and we will surely
march on to victory. If you really want something, the universe conspires to
make it happen.
Who would have thought that a girl from ChaChaCha
would beat the odds and get into Harvard?
