2018: A Year in Review
A word from our Founder…
“Those most familiar with our program might notice that we have a certain lingo, a collection of terms that articulate our methods and missions. Becoming a “ripple maker” is one of the most influential terms in our educational tool box. Ripple making means actualizing impact, intentionally creating meaningful interactions with people that enact positive change.
Moving beyond individual successes, we’re proud to see our students and alumni truly embody the concept of becoming ripple makers by retooling their communities, uplifting others, and reaching farther beyond our campus borders.”
Student acceptances, graduations & awards
Accepted. The word that holds power over students around the world has, fortunately, been used frequently around our small campus in South Africa this year. While impressive student achievements included acceptances to various United World College campuses around the globe and awards from prestigious bodies such as the Mastercard Foundation, what is more exciting is the rate at which acceptances and awards are increasing...
Each year, Scholars break new boundaries, proving that it is possible to attend university abroad, go to one of the most well-regarded educational institutions in Africa, or to graduate top of your class. Each boundary that’s broken opens a door for the next generation of Scholars to reach new heights.
While many more achievements were made, we’d like to specifically congratulate the following Scholars:
- Justice and Sankelisiwe have begun their studies at the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg
- Alucia graduated #1 in her class, Honours in Tourism at Tshwane University of Technology
- Norman was accepted to and completed a second term at Watson University’s social enterprise program for his business venture
Special programs
Special programs or as we like to call them, Experiential Learning Opportunities (ELOs), are the lifeblood of our organization. We believe in equipping students with actionable skill sets that will serve them in the real world — and what better way to do that than to get some real world practice. ELOs speak to Scholar’s personal interests, and help students identify and act on what makes them come alive.
Scholars went above and beyond this year, participating in a record number of ELOs in an array of fields and interests. Some special programs of note include:
- Tandzile, Justice, and Muzi completed job shadows at Novare Equity Partners
- Wendy completed an extended job shadow with HartROA Astronomy Observatory and attended a space camp in the UK
- Shadrack participated in the GreenPop environmental Festival for Action in the Eastern Cape
- Bongane attended the Asheshi AIX coding program in Ghana
Community action projects enacted
Being a “ripple-maker” means being a change-maker. With a bias towards action, Scholars worked harder than ever before in 2018 to extend the impact of Imagine Scholar beyond our four-walls, reaching more community members than ever before.
Enacting community action projects not only helps serve our community, it gives Scholars a chance to flex their entrepreneurial muscles — a perfect learning opportunity to practice project management, leadership, and empathy. Some of our favorite projects from this year included:
- Constance, Sandiso, Tandzile, and Gladys have been distributing female sanitary packs to orphanages
- Angel took 10 students on job shadows at Tonga Veterinary Hospital
- Andiswa conducted 23 eye exams in collaboration with a local optometrist
- Phila started a computer programming mentorship club
The achievements noted in this article are just the beginning. To view our full list of students successes, please see our 2018 Student Success List.
It’s with great appreciation that we thank our community, donors, advocates, supporters, families, and friends for helping reach even greater heights in 2018. In 2019, we look forward to making even more ripples.
