It all started with getting accepted to the University of Cape town (UCT), great, but without a sponsor, not so great. UCT fees are too high for any Tanzanian company to sponsor you and South African companies offer bursaries to South African citizens only. Well, that only leaves one option for international students, to afford the best education in Africa , your parents should either very rich or very giving. I searched for bursaries and sponsorships and just none of them seemed to suit me. Well, until I googled 'scholarships for women'. At the top of the list was the 'Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship'. That was the beginning of this journey.
To get the scholarship you have to be a woman who has excelled in Computer Science. And I was far from it, at least not then. I struggled, I struggled with Computer Science ever since the first day I step foot into the Computer Science classroom. I had no background in Computer Science or IT and everyone else just seemed to understand what a variable is and how a loop works. I know these concepts seem trivial right now but then it was kept me up at night. I didn't give up, I couldn't afford to because I had to get that scholarship. I had to excel in Computer Science just so that my parents could have a peace of mind (at least for a year). Eventually, I started enjoying Computer Science (even did an intern ship at a place where I was the only female in the office). The rest is just history.
So yeah , that email from Google, isn't just a random notification, it has a story in it. A story with 3 lessons I'd like to share
1) Dreams do come true( I surely wont forget that)
2) Women make good computer scientists , its time we started believing that.
3)Google saves lives. Yes, Google saved my life. Even though I don't know how I'll pay for my studies the following year, I' just glad my parents can relax for a year. In short, thanks Google!
More information about the scholarship can be found at http://www.google.com/anitaborg/emea/
