I’m back with part two. Now this is the part where you have to be attentive if you are interested in scholarships and studying abroad. I just had a few work emails to respond to incase my boss sees me gallivanting in these streets .

Like I mentioned before, I mentor students. However, I don’t look for them. They look for me. I figured someone has to be ready for an experience for them to actually be serious and put some effort.

My mantra is “Make Google your friend”. Often I get people who ask me to help them find scholarships and half the time they think I’m not being honest when I tell them the scholarships are there on Google.

Just typing “scholarships for Zimbabweans” will get you so much information. My favorite sites are Opportunity Desk, Scholarsdev and Twitter user @MomentsWithBren. I try by all means not to hand hold the student because ultimately the initiative has to come from them.

Scholarships are so many especially for Masters programs. It can get a little confusing if you have so many applications running concurrently so the other thing we focus on is being organized.

I encourage students to set up google alerts for when scholarships open and close. Then also a document they constantly update when it comes to progress. It helps so that we don’t miss any important deadlines.

Then comes the essay writing part. As I mentioned earlier, I push students to find the scholarships so that they understand the importance of research. The scholarship essays need someone who can research and use that information to strengthen their application.

Essays questions are almost always similar. For example if they ask you why you chose the university, a generic response like “it is highly ranked” won’t cut it. You need to show the committee that you know about the university and you have looked it up.

You can use information such as specific features of the program, the city in which the university is located, their policies on minority groups and any other information that would make you choose that university instead of the next one.

One other common question is on financial need. Often people think it’s the struggle Olympics. Remember scholarship committees are made up of people who know your country. Be realistic.

Already if you are from Zimbabwe, chances are you don’t have £22K stashed up somewhere for a masters program abroad. There are several issues that affect us like the economic situation, inflation etc. Use that to strengthen your essay.

Then always have something that you stand up for. What is your claim to fame? Are you a feminist, politician or environmentalist? You need to have a purpose. Moreover, you need to participate in current events eg volunteering during Covid-19.

Ultimately you need to research and research. I can’t emphasize enough on this. If you can write your essay at the top of your head then you aren’t quite serious yet. Scholarships are a gamble. You get in and sometimes you don’t but you keep trying.

So my method allows me to work with the student so that ultimately they are able to write their own essays without me guiding them. I already have two “graduates” .

I’m also happy that this year I have four students I worked with who are going to the UK. I would tag them but Eish vanhu vanoroiwa before they get on that plane.

One area I have noticed which is lagging behind is interviews. I have had quite a number failing to go past the interview stage and I am still finding ways to include interview mentoring.

To sum it up, this is something I do in my spare time but if one person gets in then we all celebrate. Fingers crossed for some students who have been trying for sometime without any positive results. We keep trying.

I also get help from my twitter family when it comes to data and application fee payments for some of the underprivileged students I work with. S/O to you guys, you are the real MVPs.

Please feel free to ask questions and flag areas which need more clarity

I forgot one important aspect, it’s always best to get a fully funded one. It makes life so much easier. School is already hard and you don’t want financial problems to go with it.

Scholarships are prestigious. They open doors to so many opportunities.