Every year at Ashesi, we receive hundreds of applications from prospective students and our admissions team works together with other staff to identify applicants who will be a good fit. As we approach the August 23rd deadline this admissions season, we have already received applications from over 50 countries. And we are proud of the students who have already made it to our class of 2022.

For Lorraine Makuyana, an incoming freshman, receiving admission to Ashesi’s engineering program was a dream come true and an incredible milestone reached; she is now the first person in her family to complete high school and receive admission to a university. Hailing from Gweru in Zimbabwe, Lorraine worked consistently hard to ensure her college education.

“Growing up, life wasn’t flawless,” said Lorraine, who was awarded a scholarship from the Jim Ovia Foundation. “My parents could barely support us with the income made from selling small electrical appliances like plugs, fuses, adapters in a small flea market stall. We would always be chased out of school due to non-payment of school fees, but the will to make it, the urge to reach my potential made me strive for personal excellence.”

“I applied to Ashesi for various reasons,” she said. “Ever since I was a child I have been fascinated by the way machines operate; I would pull apart objects, curious about what they were made up of. I wanted to become a mechanical engineer. Yet, I wanted a school that would give me a liberal arts education and would enable me to explore disciplines beyond my major. I also wanted a school that would equip me with the tools I need to succeed after graduation and a community where I would fit in with the rest of the student body and build lifelong relationships. I, however, needed a school that is need-blind, a school that would offer me a scholarship if admitted and I found all that in Ashesi University.”

Since its inception, Ashesi has been committed to making it possible for bright students across the continent to benefit from quality education, through our breadth of financial aid offerings. Ashesi is always proud to enroll first-generation college students like Lorraine who are transcending the limitations around them.

“I look forward to a bright future and being a source of happiness for my family, so that they don’t struggle the way they are now,” she said. “I want to prove to the world that a Zimbabwean girl from a small town like Gweru can also make it in life. I want to see my parents proud of having conceived the first person in the family, and perhaps even the first in my high-density township community, to graduate from university and make an impact.”