When I attended the Yale Young African Scholars Program  in Zimbabwe in August 2016, I assumed that at the end of the program, my link with YYAS would end too. It was the shortest week of my life and the goodbyes to new friends from across the Continent were filled with tears and laughter as …

On the 18 August, 100 African students burst enthusiastically on to Arundel School’s campus to be engaged, enlightened, and inspired by the passionate Yale Young African Scholars team; undoubtedly these are some of our best young people: the hope of the continent. On the 20th, a smaller, more unassuming group started to arrive quietly by …

Four students in the current USAP cohort proudly took the stage on Friday, September 22 at Bindura University of Science Education’s national Mathematics and Science Olympiad. USAPer Munashe Mhlanga, from John Tallach High School in Matabeleland North Province, won the overall Gold Medal for the Mathematics Olympiad, and was awarded a laptop and $250. Evans …

When USAP students arrived on college campuses across America in August, they were pleasantly surprised to find a post office slip alerting them they had a package awaiting them.  That package contained a beautiful set of bedding for each of their new dorm rooms. A USAP alumna, who prefers to remain anonymous, came up with …

It was on a Monday morning on the 28th of August when I was welcomed by the cheerful faces of my fellow USAP family members whom I had last seen four months ago when we prepared for the SAT. I had mixed emotions.  I was very happy to meet again with this second family, but …

“Wow, this is actually very beautiful….” I whispered to myself in disbelief as I sat there staring at the captivating sunset over Lake Chivero. The sun was a soft burnt orange, and looking at it made it hard for me to believe that that was the same sun that had blazed hot at midday, and …

In the three years it has existed, the Zimbabwe Career Connect Internship Program has managed over time to become an interactive program that focuses on both talk and action, and this has separated it from most internship programs in the country. Reflecting on the just ended third year cycle, ZCC has grown in size and …

“How do you like Zimbabwe so far?” asked Lincoln Mtemeri, a rising junior at Arizona State University, when I arrived at Education Matters offices in Harare before we headed to Chengeta Lodge where the 2017 USAP Forum was held. In my disoriented state, following a 16-hour bus ride from Blantyre to Harare, I fumbled for …

When I left for college almost a year ago, it never crossed my mind how I would feel when I returned. All I was doing was looking forward, anticipating my new life at Earlham College. Returning home was something I had never prepared myself for, and it has been an overwhelming experience altogether. To me, …

July 20 was the last session of the two month Level Up College Counselors’ Course that Education Matters held this term for counselors from local schools to learn about the processes of assisting students to apply to colleges and universities in the United States. Below are the reflections of one of the participants, Ms. Elysium …

There is something fulfilling about complete cycles. Circles, spheres and ellipses are just satisfying. You could say they are mathematically smooth, or really just aesthetic. Cycles became something like an allegory two weeks ago when I realized that in coming back home to Zimbabwe, going through the ups and downs of trying to settle in, …

It’s not enough to get straight A’s in high school, write SATs and college essays, jet off to America and never look back. At some point in time, that’s all the USAP program looked like to me; a get-away ticket. I’d spent hours pouring over the USAPGLOBAL website as I searched for American colleges to …