High School Student from Uganda, Studying in Miyagi, Shares Encouragements with Classmates

 

Francis is a third-year high school student, graduating in March 2021. In junior high school, he attended school at the Ashinaga Uganda Rainbow House in Nansana. Francis has always had superb academic ability, a positive attitude, and been full of curiosity. Three years ago, he was selected to participate in the high school study abroad program in Japan. He has since participated in Ashinaga student fundraising activities, tsudoi summer camps, a project to empower girls in Uganda, and even sits on the student council at his school.

At the end of his second year, the COVID-19 pandemic started. Francis had to prepare all his university applications under the stress of this unprecedented environment. After putting many hours of hard work into those applications, he was accepted to Eikei University of Hiroshima.

Below is a message from Francis to his classmates about how he dealt with the difficult university application process under these unforeseen circumstances.

 

Dear fellow students,

The graduation from high school is coming up, I hope that you are doing well and keeping healthy.

A lot of things have changed due to COVID-19. We can no longer go to school normally as we used to, and we can no longer socialize with our friends frequently. In addition to waking up early every morning to study, we live in a society where a mask is a must.

The challenges are many, but I encourage you to let your will to achieve a bright future help you to defeat all your fears regardless of the situation.

When I was applying for university, I felt uneasy because I couldn’t directly experience the university’s atmosphere through the campus tour and trial classes. However, in order to understand the university in detail, I went to the university’s website and listened to the teachers’ messages on YouTube. Then, I participated in the online trial class and had discussions with professors and other students. This gave me the confidence to continue with the application. If you also face any challenges with your application, I encourage you to keep moving forward such as consulting with your teachers and friends, researching on the Internet.

This spring, I am going to study at Hiroshima Prefectural University (Eikei University). At the university, I want to study social system design. In the future, I want to develop systems to enable people in Uganda to receive quality education and medical care in order to improve their standards of living.

Good luck!!

 

There are hundreds of thousands of students around the world facing difficulties advancing to university or to continuing their education during this pandemic. Even though these tough circumstances, we want to encourage all students to never surrender but keep on moving forward to seek an education, while prioritizing mental and physical health.

Congratulations, Francis, on being admitted to university! We look forward to celebrating your future successes. Best of luck to all the others looking to graduate and enter university in 2021.