Sasasa Dlamini from Westville Boys’ High School is the proud recipient of a place at Harvard University in the United States, which is fully funded.

Sasasa will first spend a general year studying a range of subjects before he has to choose his focus subjects for his four year undergraduate degree. However, he has a passion for philosophy as well as economic and political studies. He says that all the subjects are interrelated and have the potential to create balance in furthering his knowledge base.

Sasasa matriculated from Westville Boys High School, KZN with seven distinctions last year. Currently, he is working as an assistant teacher at the school while he waits for his departure date in July. He is also a school boarding master, which is allowing him the opportunity to prepare himself for living independently in
the United States.

Sasasa says, “I am looking forward to going overseas and seeing all those uniquely American things.” One of the aspects that he is anticipating enjoying while travelling and studying in the USA is to observe how people interact with one another in the USA. Sasasa commented, “This will be really interesting for me as I tend to be a people watcher. Seeing how people are affected by policies and different political systems and even the racial and social dynamics may be different to South Africa.”

Sasasa thinks that a challenge that he may face is, “being accepted at an ivory league school which many students have been bred to attend, while I am just a kid from Africa, which might be a struggle.” However, Sasasa has already established a support network with other students who will be travelling to the USA, as
well as students who are already studying at the university.

Sasasa application to Harvard University was a step by step process, which he followed with the assistance of education advisor Susan Knowles from EducationUSA. He first met Susan Knowles at a career exhibition when he was grade 10 and decided that he would like to apply to the United States. Sasasa not only explored his international options through EducationUSA but also followed up with research on the internet

“What made a huge difference to my application was the one on one interaction with EducationUSA advisor Susan Knowles who was always able to full in the gray areas,” says Sasasa.

When asked what advice he would give other students who would be interested in applying to the United States he said that it is really important to believe in yourself and have faith in your abilities.

“I know a lot of kids who get better results and are better sportsmen than me but didn’t apply because they doubted themselves. The person who obtains the opportunity, not only ticks all the boxes but has aspirations and keeps the end goal in mind,” commented Sasasa.

He added that as the application process takes a few months, much of the preparation has to be psychological. He also said that he learnt a lot about himself while preparing the various aspects of the application requirements. Sasasa says, “All you have to do is work hard and obtain good results and then leave the result up to the universe. Other people will make the decision on your behalf.”

Sasasa concluded, “The biggest struggle may be maintaining my South African accent. I have been told not to come back with an American accent; my parents have told me that they will disown me!”