Educational Connect
Apr 13, 20224 min
Gifty Baaba Hewton is an alum of Ghana’s premier university, where she graduated in 2020 with a first class degree in Political Science with French. She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in the United Kingdom (UK) at the University of Sheffield as a distinguished recipient of the Allan and Nesta Ferguson Scholarship. The Allan and Nesta Ferguson Scholarship at the University of Sheffield is a full tuition fee waiver and maintenance award targeted at international students from developing countries for a number of courses that are affiliated with the Sheffield Institute for International Development.
I’m a Ghanaian, who had until recently lived her entire life in Ghana. I’m currently in the UK pursuing my master’s degree in International Relations.
It was one of those fantasies I had, but it was not until 2 years ago I decided to focus more seriously on actualizing my dream of studying abroad.
Access to funding and quality education were the 2 main things I was looking out for when I began the school search. Unfortunately, by the time I begun the process, the window period for funding in the USA was closed, so that was a no go area for me. I did apply to schools in Canada, and some countries in Asia, but I found the application process to be very seamless in the UK and it greatly helped that I eventually got a full tuition scholarship there.
I actually applied to ~9 or 10 universities because I was targeting the Commonwealth and Chevening Scholarships, which ended up not working in my favor.
The Allan and Nesta Ferguson Scholarship is not a scholarship you can apply to directly, but rather, get nominated for. At the time I applied to Sheffield, it was mainly for my Chevening Scholarship application, but I guess God had a different plan.
I wouldn’t say I was surprised because I trusted God to come through for me, but after experiencing a couple of scholarship application rejections, and waiting for about 6 months to find out I had been shortlisted for this scholarship was really an interesting experience.
A link was sent where you can then apply for the scholarship by submitting a personal statement and responding to a few questions. There was no interview for the scholarship and the process was very seamless.
Surprisingly, I didn’t! Like I stated previously, the UK application process is very straight - forward and also not as laborious as people make it seem to be. It also could be that because I was a past CAMFED scholar and had access to training and mentorship on these types of opportunities, the process was very easy once I read and understood all the requirements needed to apply to a school.
I didn’t.
Frankly speaking, my experience in Ghana contributed greatly to my current success. From the training and mentorship I received from Mastercard as a Camfed Scholar to counsel from my undergraduate lecturers, etc, I believe it has all played a significant role to where I am today. The journey has not always been smooth or easy, but I guess that also contributes to creating a beautiful story.
I didn’t! Aside from the food and the system in the UK functioning properly and being in place, I still feel very much at home.
It’s been pretty normal, but exciting to have a change of environment for the first time. It has also been very fulfilling to have been able to set a goal and achieve it within a short time. This has been an experience of a lifetime.’
I expected systems to be functioning properly and so far, my expectations have been met.
Before entering the UK, I heard it would be challenging to get most African food commodities, but this is not the case here. There are several intercontinental stores due to the culturally diverse nature of the UK.
I recommend the University of Sheffield 100% because it is a first class institution. The Allan and Nesta Ferguson Scholarship at the University of Sheffield is not something you can apply to directly so it’s really about praying and trusting in God, believing in yourself and hoping for the best outcome at the end of the day.
Aside of the full tuition fee waiver, the Allan and Nesta Ferguson Scholarship at University of Sheffield also provides a maintenance for University accommodation and a monthly stipend. A prospective nominee must hold an offer by 6 May, 2022 for one of the eligible courses at the Sheffield Institute for International Development to be considered for nomination amongst other scholarship requirements.