Dumisile Mphamba: Striving To Maintain Excellence, As A Form Of Worship
Dumisile Melody Mphamba is a 19-year-old Zimbabwean young lady who will be starting her undergraduate studies at Stanford University, this fall, under a full scholarship. Growing up in a country with a ‘broken’ health system, she aims to contribute solutions to eradicating the inequity in the healthcare sector. Dumisile hopes to becomes a medical doctor and public health professional, who focuses her career on optimizing access to healthcare, for low-income Zimbabweans. She describes herself as an artistic scientist. During her high school days, Dumisile co-managed 26 extracurricular clubs including: Public Speaking Captain and Toastmasters Vice President. She is also an active She is a Worship Leader, actress, Youth Music Director and volunteer in her community. Dumisile is the oldest of three girls, and lives with her parents and sisters in Harare, Zimbabwe. In this interview, she takes us through her incredible story to Stanford… [bctt tweet=”My core belief is that I was created to praise and please the Lord” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] What has been your motivation for excellence and what impact have you made as a result? My core belief is that I was created to praise and please the Lord. What better way to honour my Creator and Source than to give Him my best and nothing less? In this same regard, I take pleasure in developing other people, so that whether they share my spiritual beliefs or not, they can live to get the very best out of life, and share the very best of their gifts with the world. I do this in many ways, my particular favourite being, as a mentor and Youth Group Leader in my church, as well as the Youth Music Director and Worship Leader. In addition to that, as a Cultural Captain and leader in my school. I believe that, by striving to maintain excellence as a form of worship, I inspired several of my schoolmates to pursue academic, extracurricular, sporting and other equally important forms of excellence, and thus obtain a sense of fulfillment. [bctt tweet=”By striving to maintain excellence as a form of worship, I inspired several of my schoolmates” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Take us on a walk through your journey to attaining a full scholarship at Stanford University? I began considering applying to the US for tertiary education when my school Guidance Counsellor suggested that I consider it as an option. Anyone who knows me, knows that at the time (I was 17) I had made a solid plan to complete my GCE A-levels, pass and go straight to medical school, without going through the relatively complicated American path to becoming a medical doctor. It took a lot of convincing from my Guidance Counsellor and my mentor, Dr Charlene Kembo-Chideme. But, I joined EducationUSA Harare, took the SATs, sought guidance from the EducationUSA advisor and fellow Zimbabweans in the USA (in crafting my application essays), applied, and the rest is history. I was accepted into the University of Pennsylvania and Yale University, also on very generous scholarships, but Stanford had always been my dream school, and their package was the most generous of the three. So I am very grateful for having such an easy choice to make! What principles have been fundamental to you and why? My defining element is my constant motivation to please God, and pursue a close relationship with him. But, this was not always my conviction. When I was about 14 years old, I experienced a time of loneliness and rejection by friends I had trusted for years, as well as tragedies that led to angry questions: What was the point of living? What was the point of God? It is then that I began to realize, through prayer, introspection, and a bucket load of tears, that my job was not to understand why things were the way they were. But, what was important was for me to flourish in those circumstances, and please God by doing my personal best, no matter what my surroundings looked like. [bctt tweet=”Flourish in your circumstances, no matter what your surrounding looks like” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] While in high school, you balanced having an outstanding grade while managing over twenty-six extracurricular activities. How did you achieve that? The most important element was my close relationship with God and our often brutally-honest conversations. I also received constant encouragement from my parents, and had a strong support structure of older sisters, particularly my mentor, who affirmed me especially when I needed it. I also have to mention my artistic outlet. I studied only science subjects at Advanced Level, and so it became increasingly important for me to deliberately let out the artist in me on stage, through public speaking, theatre, music and worship. What qualities are essential for young Africans? Resilience is key. One of my favourite quotes is “A river cuts through the rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence.” – Jim Watkins. As young Africans, we must believe in the unique gifts and ideas we possess. We must be resilient enough to seek new ways of pursuing our goals if ever we fail, and we must refuse to allow our gift to die without being tapped into. I believe that leadership is the ability to use our gifts to unite people; Towards a vision that benefits followers, and to inspire them to develop their own vision for their lives, so that they may use their gifts to, in turn, benefit the lives of others. [bctt tweet=”A river cuts through the rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence -Jim Watkins” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] What are your plans for Africa and Zimbabwe in particular in the coming future? My goal is to become a medical doctor and public health professional, who focuses her career on optimizing access to healthcare for low-income Zimbabweans. I look forward to collaborating with many like-minded individuals, both in Africa and the world at large, who are also passionate about developing healthcare infrastructure in
Twitter Chat with Yasmin Belo-Osagie: Getting Into The Graduate School of Your Dreams (Mar 14)
Missed this event? Make sure you don’t miss the next one by joining our community today. [vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Click here to follow She Leads Africa on twitter” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center” google_fonts=”font_family:Oswald%3A300%2Cregular%2C700|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal” link=”url:http%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FSheLeadsAfrica||target:%20_blank” css=”.vc_custom_1457117576423{border-top-width: 2px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;border-left-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 2px !important;padding-right: 2px !important;padding-bottom: 2px !important;padding-left: 2px !important;border-left-color: #1e73be !important;border-left-style: solid !important;border-right-color: #1e73be !important;border-right-style: solid !important;border-top-color: #1e73be !important;border-top-style: solid !important;border-bottom-color: #1e73be !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;border-radius: 2px !important;}”][vc_column_text]Applying to graduate school can be an exciting but nerve wrecking time. Graduate degrees have the potential to help you add advanced knowledge and credentials to your CV and move up in the rankings at work. However, competition is stiff for the best programs and even qualified candidates can struggle when it comes to convincing admissions officers to allow them entry. Join us on Monday March 14 for a Twitter Chat with our very own Yasmin Belo-Osagie where she’ll help us figure out how to get into the graduate school of our dreams. Follow She Leads Africa on twitter and use the hashtag #SLAChats to ask your questions and participate in the discussion. Topics that we’ll cover: How to develop your application strategy The best study tools to help you prepare for the entrance examinations How to get letters of recommendations to help you stand out Tools to help you manage all of the different deadlines and requirements [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]About Yasmin: Yasmin is a co-founder of She Leads Africa where she leads the events and offline programming team. Prior to starting SLA, she worked as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company where she focused on developing multi-year growth strategies for large organizations. She graduated from Princeton University (majoring in history) and is now mid-way through a JD/MBA at Harvard Law School and Stanford Business School.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Click here to follow She Leads Africa on twitter” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center” google_fonts=”font_family:Oswald%3A300%2Cregular%2C700|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal” link=”url:http%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FSheLeadsAfrica||target:%20_blank” css=”.vc_custom_1457420347838{border-top-width: 2px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;border-left-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 2px !important;padding-right: 2px !important;padding-bottom: 2px !important;padding-left: 2px !important;border-left-color: #1e73be !important;border-left-style: solid !important;border-right-color: #1e73be !important;border-right-style: solid !important;border-top-color: #1e73be !important;border-top-style: solid !important;border-bottom-color: #1e73be !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;border-radius: 2px !important;}”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
What you can learn about leaps of faith and other career lessons from Isis Nyong’o Madison
Isis Nyong’o Madison is a tech entrepreneur, investor and influencer in the African entrepreneurship scene. Aside from being named as one of the youngest power women in Africa, she is a principal at strategic advisory and investment firm Asphalt and Ink and previously served as the Vice President and Managing Director at InMobi and Google’s Business Development Manager in Africa. With numerous nods, including several acknowledgements from Kenya’s Business Daily’s Top 40 under 40 Women, Isis Nyong’o Madison is someone all young African women need to look up to. We went through some of her interviews and learnt a few career lessons. 1. Take a leap of faith Kenya in recent years has been touted as the hottest tech hub of Africa but in 2002, this was not the case. Isis chose to come back to Kenya against the advice of a career officer at Harvard in order to pursue tech opportunities in the market. Even if the steps you want to take in your career do not look like the correct ones to others, you need to be able to critically review advice from others and draw your own conclusions. Coming back to Kenya was a leap of faith for Isis and it has paid off. 2. Take a chance on you While she was still a student, Isis flew out to London on her own dime, to meet with MTV Africa head Alex Okosi. This is because she felt that she was the right person for the job. Taking a chance on yourself means not giving up on an opportunity you think suits you no matter the obstacles. 3. Make a decision and stick to it To achieve anything in life, clear decisions need to be made. Once you have decided what direction your career should take, it is important to stick to it. Isis has said in numerous interviews that there are no quick wins. Success takes time; you need to give yourself time. Isis has declined higher paying jobs in her career that did not meet her own personal goals of challenging work, responsibility, and growth. 4. Build/create/do something worthwhile It is not enough to just focus on moving up the ranks, you need something to show for it. It is just as important to build a track record or building something on your own or within a company no matter what role you are in. This is definitely something that can be said of every role Isis has held. 5. Be confident No one is going to hand it to you. You need to go after the career or promotion you want. Once you have taken the time to build something worthwhile, do not be afraid to show it. Use it as a portfolio to show just what you have accomplished and make it hard for anyone to pass you up for or question your promotion. Isis has been asked several times by people with more seniority than her whether she can do the job and her response as always been yes. You’ve shown you can do it, now prove it. 6. Be open to learning You can never learn anything enough and Isis knows this. Take every opportunity you can to learn something new. As Isis puts it, “learn about new ideas, build a new skill or deepen your understanding about a subject you are already familiar with.” 7. Be committed After it’s all said and done, Isis truly does commit to her work. In an interview with Forbes Africa magazine, Isis said about her former firm, “As we are a global organization (InMobi), there are often conference calls in the middle of the night and early hours of the morning. InMobi never sleeps.” To grow your career, you should be willing to give that level of commitment to your career.