I know, unusual right? But this year, we decided to do our Uni Scholarship Students meet up in a different format. We took them to the beach as many don’t get the opportunity to go and have a day like this. We brought food, water and plenty of “capolanas” to sit in a large circle and hang-out. At the beach, we made the most of our time together.
Getting There
I am always expected to do an introduction and sometimes I feel like I am repeating the same things over and over again. But in fact, they only see me once a year, and this group keeps having new students added and others that graduate (thankfully!). So, this year, I spoke to them about opportunity. The opportunity that they are choosing to pursue is very special and I remind them that the numbers have been against them. And that despite the low numbers that reach this level of education, as well as the low numbers amongst kids from unprivileged background like them, they got there. It was not easy to get here, to this beach. Many of them come from broken or almost non-existing homes. Others come from hunger and quite a few from remote places, places where dreams of a career or an education don’t exist. So it is very special indeed.
You Owe it to Yourself
However, I also have to remind them that the opportunity is theirs alone to use or lose. We have had students who dropped their degrees half-way and, I must say, not only it made us very angry, it mostly broke our hearts. We know how hard the path is to make it so far, to then only let it fall in moments of confusion. Importantly, it is not only that we feel defrauded, but when one of their fellow students drops their studies, they let downall the other students in the program, they let down the ones that were left out and more than anyone, they let themselves down.
I know, that part of the speech is also less celebratory and quite harsh at times, but it comes with the program.
Welcoming new beginnings
This year, we had 6 new students and therefore we started by asking them to share their views of their first year and how they faced this new reality. Mostly, the city transition is no doubt the biggest challenge. They come from a remote place like Manjangue or from a small city like Chokwé to find themselves in the “big” city of Xai-Xai. They come from living with families to fending for themselves on their own. To knowing everyone in their school and community to having to meet new people.
I remind them of the importance of the “older” ones in providing support to the new arrivals and how they can help them feel welcome and find their own tribe. Indeed, this group is here to be a tribe to one another and that applies especially to the new ones arriving.
Passing the baton
The group has many students who are likely to graduate in the next 6-12 months and quite a few that have just graduated. To those, I asked them to share how they have evolved over the years, how they faced challenges, share some successes and naturally give some advice to the new ones in the group. My heart swelled as one of the students said that after she did such a good job during a labour she assisted, the mother chose to give her name to the child. She said she felt special by being sent to internships far away because they only do that when students are very good. It is rare to see pride in a group like this, and I was over-joyed by it.
All of the students that have been part of the program for longer had something to share and were open about some of the challenges they faced, many of them academic challenges. We all could not help but smiling when 2 of the girls studying to be nurses confessed they were absolutely petrified of needles before they started their degrees and had no choice but to learn and do it. Fun or not, this sharing helped the new ones realise that everyone will be facing challenges, that is part of the deal.
After all, as I heard from Mark Manson last week,
“Resilience is not about not feeling bad, it is about being good at feeling bad”.
This is a group of resilient young people. They have fought a long way to get here and I can’t wait to see them succeed!
A day like this is filled with pictures and side-jokes. It is clear the group is building a strong bond between them, and I trust they will be friends beyond the time they spend in this programme. The sense of community and belonging that is built here is a strong foundation throughout their lives.