My Journey from Rwanda to the Ivy League
John, an incoming student at UPenn, talks about the power of mentorship, dispels Ivy League myths, and shares a message of hope for his peers.
I am John Kelly Rukundo; but my friends just call me John. With the support of Project Access the University of Pennsylvania invited me to join its undergraduate program. My eyes glanced at the congrats messages: the whole village had been waiting for this dream to become real!
I fell in love with UPenn during my high school studies at the Agahozo Shalom Youth Village (ASYV). ASYV was founded by Penn alumna Anne Heyman. This brave woman left me with the inspiration that she and I can change the world; she amazed me from afar. I am from a village that gets totally dark in the evening, where I had limited access to library books, computers, and extracurricular clubs. Poor education and poverty also affected my community.
“Despite the belief that education would be a tool to change my community, I had lost a clear picture of the future - as so many did. After hearing Anne Heyman’s story, everything changed. I started to believe in myself.”
I started to believe in my goals and the power of education. I wanted to walk in Anne’s shoes; to never turn a blind eye to those in need and to not let the past define their future.
Applying to the Ivy League is one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever made. Why? I had no friends or relatives who had gone to Ivy, and no one was there to let me know that I would make it. Whenever I talked with my classmates about Ivy League colleges, their first reaction was, “They don’t even read the whole application.”
After my successful application, I received a note from one of the admissions officers who read my application. She gave me detailed feedback and told me my application was particularly compelling. This convinced me that every story is read, valued, and considered.
Another misconception I heard from my peers is that only perfect students get in. Although grades and scores can be important, I was admitted without standardised assessment results, or Duolingo English language scores. Admissions officers evaluate applications holistically, considering all aspects, not just one thing.
“The most important thing is to be yourself.”
Universities are interested in having diversity. Additionally, having limited financial resources should not deter anyone. What’s more important is how resourceful somebody has been to themselves. My message is to stay motivated.
“Just as the sky looks unreachable to wingless creatures, studying at the University of Pennsylvania seemed a distant dream to me. Nevertheless, Project Access mentorship lifted me up to touch the limitless sky.”
My mentor Nico always motivated me by sharing his personal experience with college applications and helped me gather all the required materials for me to stand out and polish my essays. His guidance and follow-ups showed that I was not alone; someone stood beside me. The journey ahead loomed heavily on me, but my mentor helped me every step of the way.
Eventually, I realised that this mentorship is a relationship of lifelong learning and friendship. Till today, my mentor allocates some time, regardless of workload, to check in.