My Rhodes Scholarship Application Journey
How I learned about the Rhodes Scholarship
My journey towards the Rhodes scholarship started in 2015. It was in a conversation with my former high school friend Muema who had come to visit me in Juja, Kenya that I firstly heard about two very important scholarships. The first was the MasterCard Foundation (MCF) Scholarship which sponsors sub saharan Africa students to study undergraduate and postgraduate studies in select universities across the world. The second was the Rhodes Scholarship which he described as the oldest and the world’s most prestigious scholarship for postgraduate studies at the University of Oxford. He told me about former Rhodes scholars who had gone on to achieve great things in service to humanity including Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States. As I didn’t yet have an undergraduate degree, I wasn’t bothered about the postgraduate opportunity but instead resolved to apply for the MCF Scholarship for an opportunity to study my undergraduate in either the UK or Canada.
After two years of applications and multitudes of rejections by various MCF Scholarships, I was awarded an MCF scholarship to study at the University of Edinburgh. I was very proud to win the scholarship as I had gone through the application process without being a part of any organisation and had learned the hard way to take rejections positively and to try improve in the way I described my experiences. I didn’t quit applying even after the many rejections because I knew that I had something unique to offer to the world and that I only needed to find the right language to present my best self to the recruiters. I learned that sometimes it’s less about the activity you were involved in and more about how reflective and detailed you are in assessing the impact that the experience had on you and on others.
The next time I heard about the Rhodes scholarship was during my third year at Edinburgh. My friend Prince had been a finalist for Rhodes Scholarship Zimbabwe and while congratulating him, he told me that having gone through the experience he thought that I was very qualified for Rhodes and that I should strongly consider applying in the upcoming round. I thought he was just being nice; I didn’t think I really had a chance at winning the scholarship. In addition, applying for the scholarship while in third year meant that if I won it, I would be going straight to graduate school after my undergraduate degree which at the moment wasn’t the plan. But Prince kept encouraging me to apply and reminded me of the age limits for Rhodes Scholarship and the fact that most constituencies allow you to apply more than once in case you fail in the first attempt. So it made sense to apply while I had an opportunity to try again for another round.
Application Process
Warming Myself Up
In the summer after my final third year exams, Scotland was on lockdown due to Covid-19. Most internship opportunities were cancelled and this meant that I had a lot of free time.
It is during this time that I decided to find out more about the Rhodes Scholarship for Kenya. I went to google and searched “Rhodes Scholarship Kenya” and was directed to the Rhodes Trust website which had a very detailed PDF with information for Kenyan applicants. During this internet search, I also learned that the scholarship was organised into about 24 constituencies around the world including the newly introduced Global Scholarship.
I went through the criteria for Kenya and luckily I was qualified in terms of age and the number of years that I had lived outside Kenya. Therefore, I could proceed to checkout the scholarship selection criteria. On this part I came across words that really resonated with me and made me very excited about the opportunity. I came across statements like:
Energy to use your talents to the full; truth, courage, devotion to duty, sympathy for and protection of the weak, kindliness, unselfishness and fellowship; moral force of character and instincts to lead; and taking interest in fellow human beings.
I felt strongly that I was most of these things and could imagine myself a perfect fit for the scholarship. Another criteria highlighted was academic excellence as it is very competitive to gain admission to Oxford University.
I found out that I needed to submit a 1000 word essay, a CV, my transcript and 5 references (3 academic and 2 character references). My concern immediately went to the 5 references and quickly put down the potential professors and people I had worked with previously who could write me the references. I also wrote down all the major initiatives I had been involved in that could demonstrate that I was the ideal candidate for the scholarship; this would be helpful for my CV and personal statement.
After getting these things together, I got a little busy with my social enterprise (BuniTek) where we were in the process of getting our team together, finishing up our website, designing our initial products and launching. I forgot that I had an application to write.
It was until I was taking a walk with my friend Kamau when we began talking about my post-graduation plans. I mentioned that I was considering applying for the Rhodes Scholarship but wasn’t very confident that I could get it. Kamau happens to be an Oxford University alumnus so he knew a lot about Oxford and Rhodes scholars. He really encouraged me to apply and said that “if there was ever anyone qualified for the scholarship, then it would be me”. I was very encouraged by those words and resolved to resume my application process.
Another big occurrence that happened as I was still convincing myself that I was good enough for the scholarship was a call I got from my friend Brenda inviting me to a party. It was a gathering for Rwandans and Burundians in Edinburgh. At this party I met two Rhodes scholars (Martin and Frank) who were visiting Edinburgh at the time. It was so inspiring having one-on-one conversations with them and learning about their experiences at Oxford. This was a turning point for my application journey as I now felt more confident knowing that if I could strike and sustain a conversation with a Rhodes scholar, then I could definitely handle being one of them. Inspiration comes in many ways, and there is something about physically seeing the people doing what you aspire to do that totally tilts the scales. It moves dreams from being fantasies to being realistic goals.
There was also another positive factor during this application period. The 11 of us in MCF Edinburgh class of 2021 had been moved to the same accommodation for the summer meaning we could see and talk to each other more often. I learned that my friends Billy, Lauryn and Tiri were also interested in applying for the scholarship. Therefore, we kept pushing each other to apply. The four of us were applying to different constituencies, but the application process was very similar. We were not really competing but collaborating and pushing each other forwards.
Getting References
Before beginning to seriously work on my personal statement, I sent my five potential referees a detailed email explaining about the Rhodes Scholarship, what I wanted to study at Oxford, why it would mean the world to me to win this scholarship, and highlighted some of my previous engagements with them. I also attached a comprehensive document obtained from the Rhodes Trust website which highlighted what the referees were to include on the references and how they were to do the submission.
I am so grateful to my lecturers Dr Hamilton, Dr Jia and Dr Popoola for being so kind in supporting me to pursue this wild ambition; despite the fact that it was summer holiday when most of them would have been on annual leave, they all got back to me immediately and submitted their references within a few days. I am also thankful to my MCF Edinburgh Program director Jo who has come through for me more times than I can count; she wrote me one of my character references in record time. Finally Mikey, the majestic person who got me started on my phenomenal journey with the Edinburgh University Sports Union (EUSU) had my back as always; this was despite the fact that he had left his post at EUSU and was so busy getting started on a new chapter in his life.
Shout-out to all the supportive mentors around the world who take time to write good references for young people pursuing even the craziest opportunities; it might be just 30 minutes of your time but it really does change some applicants’ lives forever.
Writing My Personal Statement
Now I had all my references but had hardly made any progress in my personal statement with only a week to the deadline. With the faith that all my 5 referees had demonstrated in me, I knew that I couldn’t quit at this point; I needed to give it my all, to make myself and everyone who had supported me proud.
I went online and came across a few sample essays written in application for the Scholarship. Although they were very well written, the writing style didn’t resonate with me. Therefore, I decided that it was best to tell my story in a simple authentic way. I gave myself freedom to write without any rules or limitations so that when I read the personal statement I could hear my voice.
I talked about my past, my journey, my dreams, aspirations and hopes for Kenya, Africa and the world. I talked about my various involvements with volunteering, community projects and enterprise. I spoke about what I wanted to study at Oxford and why I thought that was important for my career and my journey to making an impact. I tried to demonstrate that I knew what the scholarship was about and to show that I was the right person for it. I demonstrated my curiosity, my hunger for knowledge, my academic capabilities and interests while at the same time trying to show that I am an all rounded person who lends his talents to different initiatives.
At the end, I was not concerned about whether I would win or lose, I was just happy that I had given my best and that reading through my 1000 word essay I could see a very reflective piece about myself. I knew that I had dug as deeper as I could to present the best version of me; and I was very proud of that.
After editing my CV to tailor it for this application and gathering all the required documents, I was able to submit my application a few moments to the deadline. I was happy with my submission, but I tried to keep my expectations at the lowest as I knew that this was a very competitive scholarship. At this point I was just happy that I could now join my friends Billy and Elyse for our usual evening dinners after a whole week of missing out as I worked on my essay and CV. I tried to forget about the application and moved on with my other summer activities.
Lessons Learned
- It takes a community to win.
- Friends are golden.
- Self-belief is everything.
- Maybe fate is a thing.
- Failing once doesn’t mean that you stop.
- Authenticity wins.
- Teamwork wins.
- Grab opportunities for networking.
- Give your friends genuine compliments.
- Share opportunities with your mates.
- Collaboration beats competition.
