“I remember times in my first year when I would go home, and write out my codes on a piece of paper. Sometimes I would come to campus as early as 7:30 am to finish up homework. I laugh when I think about it now, but it was very challenging at the time.” Having just graduated, and having been awarded Ashesi’s Citizenship, Leadership, Scholarship Award, Diana Dayaka Osei ’12 reflects on her years at Ashesi.
Diana Dayaka is the only daughter in a family of six. She attended Lincoln Community School, a privilege she believes she enjoyed because of her parents’ firm belief in quality education. It was at Lincoln Community School, that she met Rebecca Awuah, who was a Computer Technology teacher there at the time. Rebecca shared the story of Ashesi with Diana, telling her about its teaching philosophy, degree offerings, scholarships and benefits. It was through this that Diana decided to apply. In 2008, Diana was accepted into Ashesi on scholarship.
“Even after only a few weeks at Ashesi, I loved the school. The small class sizes and critical thinking requirements for each course were right up my alley. My high school had a rather rigorous academic program, so I was prepared for the five or six page essays we were assigned right in the first few weeks.”
As a Computer Science student, not having a personal computer to work with was more than just an inconvenience for Diana. She depended heavily on the universities public computers; computers which were not always available when she needed them.
“I remember times in my first year when I would go home, and write out my codes on a piece of paper. Sometimes I would come to campus as early as 7:30 am to finish up homework. I laugh when I think about it now, but it was very challenging at the time.”
Nevertheless, Diana flourished at Ashesi University College, graduating in 2012 with first-degree honors. But she admits that she was probably less known for her classroom prowess, than for her active extra-curricular life — several of which were community-oriented projects. In 2010 for instance, Diana participated in the Dell Social Innovation Competition together with a team of classmates, out of which the ReadWorm Club was created. She has since worked through campus club Readworm to help improve reading in primary schools. Earlier in 2012 also, she traveled to Atlanta, Georgia, with two Computer Science (CS) faculty members, Dr. Astrid Larssen and Dr. Ayorkor Korsah, to participate in ICTD activities at the Georgia Technology Center. There, she shared her senior year computer science research work, her experience being involved in WorldReaders’ work to get people to read more using e-readers, and also spoke about “educating technologists for development in Africa.”But of all her projects, Diana says that she is most proud of her Kasahorow Fellowship.
“Promoting Ghanaian Sign Language is very precious to me. I am passionate about deaf and hearing-impaired people, because I believe they deserve the same kind of opportunities we do. I was thrilled when this project won a grant from the Kasahorow Fellowship Committee. It meant that I could expand the impact of my project, and that is exactly what I intend to do.”
Diana is quick to say how grateful she is to Ashesi for the opportunities the university brought her way. “If not for Ashesi,” she says, “I might never have fully recognized the potential for Africa to rise above its present problems. I am grateful to the lecturers and staff who supported me, and brought out strengths I did not even know I had.
I feel like I can conquer the world. I am going to work hard to promote my work with Ghanaian Sign Language. Then I will pursue other business and creative interests I have nurtured since I was a child. I know that no matter where I find myself, I am equipped with the tools to activate positive change. For this, I am grateful to Ashesi.”
