Esther Neema — She Took 3 Years Applying to US Universities

Q&AOpportunities

21 Jun

[5 min. read]

Esther Neema is a dear friend from highschool and I am very inspired by her perseverance to stick to her guns and insist on what she wanted – to study in the US – even while everyone else around her thought she was chasing an impossible dream. But she made it there when she was 20 years old, 3 years after starting her journey.

Q: How did you know you wanted to go to the US?

A: My brother had studied in the US - both his undergrad and grad school as well. And through some conversations I'd had with him ever since he was in the US, I could tell there was a very different way he thought than people back at home. And I knew I could attribute that to the educational experience he gained here. There was lots of critical thinking and assessments in the way he reasoned, I was like, I really want that as well. And so that's how I started thinking about studying in the US, or at least getting the same educational experience as him.

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Q: And once you decided on the US, how did you go about getting there?

A: After graduating high school, I knew nothing about applying to colleges in the US. So I did lots of personal research, lots of speaking with friends in the US, or people who had studied there. And then I heard of this organization that was partnering with schools abroad to help bring girls from Kenya to the US to study in college. I applied. Long story short, I ended up not going through that organization but through that process, I learned how to apply to schools and also how to study for and apply to do the SATs from Kenya. So I got to a point after a year and a half of applying and waiting where I was just like, okay, fine. You could either go study in Kenya, or you could try again by yourself. And I knew that I really wanted to study in the US. So I was like, nope, I'm just gonna try again. So I started again and did my SATs for the third time. I got a private tutor in Kilimani. I applied to a whole new set of schools, about 20 to 25 schools. What people don't talk about is how draining and discouraging the process can be but I ended up with some really good offers and got to the US almost three years later after high school.

Q: Did you know what course you wanted to study from the beginning?

A: Yes, I knew I wanted to do something related to Math, Finance, Economics or Statistics. I loved statistics in high school. I literally volunteered to tutor kids in Math for two years, because I loved it so much. But I knew that it had to be somehow aligned with macro economic systems or finance. When I was in Kenya, I was like, wow, money, if used in the right way can be such an uplifting thing for communities, but at the same time, if misused, it can lead to deteriorated systems, which is, sadly, what most third world nations have had to endure for a long time.

Q: How was your experience when you first arrived?

A: Thankfully, I had my brother in the US. And just from conversations I'd had with him previously, I kind of had an idea of what to expect, but it's still not the same when you first get here. Definitely tons of culture shock. Also, I arrived in the summer, and I had no idea how hot it gets here in the summer. So I had no clue how to dress for the weather. Additionally at the time, I was not extremely self aware so I was limited in the kinds of things I did or explored or was open to doing in the summer. So it was to say the least, a huge adjustment.

Q: In hindsight, what were the highlights of that process of applying and going to the US?

A: I could have chosen to just throw in the towel and study elsewhere. But I knew in my heart of hearts that I wanted to study here. And so I look back now with so much thankfulness and gratitude, because I came very close to giving up. But I don't know, I definitely will attribute this to God's strength and encouragement, because it got to a point where even my closest friends just did not think I was sane. But yes, obviously, you need to put in effort, but it gets to a point where things just collide. And if they're meant to work, they just work. So keep pushing. It took me two and a half years of trying, from January 2014 to July 2016 to get it.

Q: What would you advise someone who's where you were in January 2014?

A: I think one thing I remember feeling and knowing was that most of the kids who I’d seen successfully go to the US and be admitted into some of these schools had scored ‘A’s and ‘A-’s in KCSE. And they just seemed to have it all together. And deep within me, I knew that I was not that person. This was around February when results came out. And I was just shy of an A minus by a point. But I look back now. And I'm like, I probably would not have gotten into school if I got an ‘A’ or an ‘A-’, because it would have limited my efforts. And so I guess what I'm trying to say is it does not matter your circumstance, and it does not matter how underqualified you feel. All that matters is the effort that you put towards your dreams. Don't give up because you don't think things will work out.

Esther Neema is a Clean-Tech Venture Capital Analyst helping evaluate Net-Zero solution technologies. She has a Master of Science in Quantitative Management: Business Analytics with a specialization in Finance from Duke University and a Bachelor of Arts, Finance from Gordon College where she graduated summa cum laude and as Collegian of the Year, 2020. You can find her on her website or on LinkedIn.