Mark David Okecha, winner of the Commonwealth Shared Scholarship at the University of Portsmouth, UK, discloses in this all-telling interview with AfterSchoolAfrica what it means to be a scholarship winner after three attempts.
So are you gearing up to move over to the UK for your Masters?
Oh yes. I’ll be pursuing my Masters in business and management, which will start on the 17th of September this year. Actually, it was all about enduring and trying. I started this journey way back in 2016. A friend who had gotten a chance through the same process introduced me to Afterschool Africa, the same Commonwealth scholarship. He introduced me to this website in 2015; after that, in 2016, I had to subscribe to the scholarship newsletter update.
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That very year, when the Commonwealth was advertised, I applied to the University of Liverpool, and I was selected as a reserve candidate; unfortunately, I wasn’t offered the scholarship that year. Then in 2017, I never gave up; I gave it a second shot. That time I applied to the University of Nottingham, Trent University for Masters, though Science in International Business, Single Honour, but still I was selected as a reserve candidate, and that very year still I was not given the scholarship because no one could afford to defer an offer. I never gave up; this year, in February, I gave it a third trial, and it was successful!
Awesome! You have already given a summary of the whole discussion we are supposed to have. Having gone through these different processes three times and getting this, what was the feeling like?
On the 14th of May, around 19:04 East African Time, I checked my inbox only to find out I had received an unusual message from one Mr. Mark Owens, University of Portsmouth, and the subject of the mail was “Congratulations.” After seeing that subject, I was very curious. So I read the content of the message, and it said, ‘Congratulations! You have been chosen as one of our candidates to be awarded a scholarship.’ I was so happy that what I had been struggling for had come to pass. I was really happy and excited about it, so because of this excitement and knowing where I got this knowledge from, I immediately said, ‘No, since this opportunity came through AfterSchoolAfrica, I must make the team at AfterSchoolAfrica know that one of their subscribers has also gotten a positive response.’ So I was really happy, because it was a very joyous moment for me and my family.
Tell us a bit about your family.
Let me start by giving you my complete biography. I’m called Mark David Okecha, a 29-year-old male from Uganda. I hold a first-class honors bachelor’s degree in records and archives management from Macquarie University, Kampala, Uganda. I graduated on the 29th of January, 2014 with my first degree, and soon after my graduation given my outstanding performance in class, I was outsourced by one university called Great Lakes Regional University to go and offer a teaching service.
So in my first job, I served as an assistant lecturer. I’m not officially married, but I have a partner; I have a family with two children—a set of twins and soon I will legalize the marriage. So after serving between 2014 and 2017 at Great Lakes Regional University, I had to apply to one of the government parastatals for a job at the Uganda Revenue Authority, and I was happy that they offered me the job and the appointment. So currently I’m serving as an officer in the Uganda Revenue Authority in the customs and in the Corporate Service Department as an officer.
Apart from excellent results and persistence, what other qualities made you stand out to win this scholarship?
I remember the application form and the key areas that the reading committee put interest in, which is the home country benefit; that section where they ask, ‘What will you do after being awarded a scholarship and getting the degree?’ I looked at the situation in Uganda concerning personnel and business management, vis-à-vis the available professionals. I saw there was a gap, and I realized there was a need for capacity building in such a section. So, I felt that if I went training in that area and, after a year, I came back to my country and implemented what I studied, I would have a feeling that I would be an outstanding person. Given my ability, I would cause a serious transformation in business and personal management. So that’s why I believe the strong answers I gave in that area may have allowed me to be an outstanding candidate.
Are there other qualities you think also contributed, for instance, a lot of scholarships and possibly the Commonwealth shared scholarship, giving preference to students who have leadership abilities, who have volunteered in community service, things like that?
Another quality that perhaps could have made me an outstanding candidate is my leadership ability. Well, I have an array of leadership abilities, which started way back in primary school because, if I recall, in 2001 while I was in primary school, I served as a prefect for finance in my primary school. When I graduated to a secondary level, I didn’t look back. I carried on with my leadership ability. So in 2003, I served as a minister in charge of health and sanitation in my high school. Then in 2008, while at my advanced level of education, I served as a minister of information and education.
After joining the university, I did not leave behind my leadership ability; I carried it forward. So I served on the student council as the Minister of Finance at Macquarie University. So putting all these together, I think all these put me in a better position to win the scholarship. Aside from that, I’m also an active community volunteer. For example, I am a youth volunteer with the Uganda Red Cross Society, an activity that I’ve carried on since 2009 till date.
Also, after seeing the challenges in the community and gathering a lot of experience, I decided to form a local NGO, which is still under the process of registration, with the aim and target of promoting education, community empowerment among the youths, peace, and unity. So I believe these skills and experiences could have played a lot in making me one of the best candidates for the scholarship.
Which came first? Your admission or the scholarship?
One of the conditions for application was that a candidate must have applied to the university. So I applied first and put in the student number. After securing the student number, I was given a conditional offer. The conditional offer had a condition that my status or admission would be upgraded to unconditional on the condition that I had paid a deposit of 2000 British pounds which is an equivalent of around 15 million Ugandan dollars. So after getting this communication, immediately my status was updated to unconditional, and then I had to say thank you, God. That meant they had already paid the deposit, so currently I have an unconditional offer.
So what do you think a student who wants to get to where you are now should be doing today to qualify for the scholarship tomorrow?
The opportunity is outside there. We live with the opportunities around us, and we have all it takes to explore and use the opportunities around us. We have smartphones, we have the internet, we have everything, but how do we use the Internet? Can social media help me get this scholarship? Oh, can I use the bundles that I bought to search important websites like AfterSchoolAfrica? So my advice to students is that all of us have equal opportunities and all of us have chances to get whatever or wherever we want to be, but the point is, how do we use that opportunity?
First, one has to be very resilient; and never give up. You have to keep on trying. Keep on trying. Keep on trying. I have always believed that the fall of man is not the end of him. When you fail this time, never give up. When you’re down, stand up, clean yourself, and begin running. Perhaps when you fall, you realize at that point that you begin to find the reasons as to why you failed. So when you realize the reason, in the next step you make, you make it carefully.
Secondly, I also advise prospective students to be very consistent. Do the same thing repeatedly, time and again. There are those colleagues who tried once, but after failing, they gave up. They’re never consistent. For me, I was very consistent one year after another and imagined being selected two times as a reserve. Consistency matters a lot.
The next thing is, I also see that After School Africa is there to help the public. I would advise people to subscribe to their newsletter because they would always receive updates whenever opportunities are available. I don’t know how I can describe this kind of information. Also, I don’t know how I would describe well-sorted information from the right source. That’s what you always give the public, but people are not aware of that. So people need to know that after school Africa is there to help us get what we didn’t know.
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Thank you for that. So again, how can African students, because the Commonwealth Shared Scholarship is opened for developing countries, including countries outside Africa, be more competitive in terms of getting this scholarship?
Now competitiveness does not start after someone has completed an undergraduate degree. It starts from the point when you join year one in university, so you need to put a lot of effort into it. Get good grades because one of the things they look for is good grades. If you have good grades and a good write-up, I don’t see any reason why the selection committee will take your application as trash. So good grades, good write-up, creativity, being creative, and being realistic—one needs not to lie. You have to speak the truth. Speak who you are; it will set you free and lead you to the next level. So that’s what I think can make African students competitive enough and beat others, and beat people in India, beat people in Pakistan, and other Commonwealth countries.
Okay. So let’s talk a bit about the essay part. You talked about being truthful and being authentic. What tips do you have on essay writing for scholarship applicants?
First and foremost, and something that I feel should be made very clear to applicants is that they should avoid any form of plagiarism (copying and pasting someone’s work). I believe it is a criminal offense. Also, once they realize that you copied and pasted someone’s work automatically, they will dump your application in a trash can.
Secondly, you need to do adequate research—research extensively about the course you’re going for. Research extensively the importance of that course in your country. For instance, if you get the knowledge, how will it help you to transform your community or the country? Then also one has to research extensively about the university. So basically, those can help one to be successful, to write a very successful and impressive essay.
Another issue of concern is that you should know the objective and the reasons why you are applying for that scholarship. Now, very many people think about such scholarships as associated with benefits, like stipend allowances. Someone is telling you that my target is that if I get this scholarship, it will help solve my financial problems. No, this scholarship is not to solve your financial problems. It empowers you with knowledge so that you can go transform your community. So one has to know the short-term, the long-term, and the lifetime career that they would be pursuing after this scholarship. That’s what I think would be very important.
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How do you think winning this scholarship is going to impact your life and career going forward?
First and foremost, it is going to create wealth for a career change because I am an information scientist. So now that I’m winning this scholarship, it’s going to allow me to pursue a Masters in business and management and create a path for career change. Two, I’m going to get professional knowledge from one of the best teachers around the world, which will make me a very good practitioner in business and personnel management. The next is that it will also give me an opportunity for capacity building and training others with the knowledge that I have. So this knowledge will be very transformative. I know I will get the knowledge as a person, but I will use it to transform the organization in which I work, to transform my country as a Ugandan, to transform the community where I was born. I can’t go without mentioning that this scholarship will create open grounds for networking with new people who will be very useful in my life even after the scholarship.
What final piece of advice do you have for African students who are hoping to get scholarships?
My advice to those who are hoping to get scholarships is that they should be resilient, be consistent, and never give up. Keep trying, keep trying, keep trying until when you hit, you hit it correctly. Never give up. Never lose hope. Man lives on hope; when you lose hope, you die. So never lose hope. Never give up. Keep trying.
We love the enthusiasm, your zeal to share your knowledge, and the fact that you let us know. We love it when we get these success messages.
The second winner, who is now my friend, is from Nigeria. We will be going over to Portsmouth under the same program. Thank you very much for the good work that you’re doing. Without After School Africa, I wouldn’t have known about this scholarship. I appreciate your work. Keep on serving your community. In the next few years, you will see a change in Africa. Development is based on the accumulation of knowledge, and you cannot acquire knowledge from corridors; you cannot acquire knowledge from slums; you can only acquire knowledge from institutions of learning (universities). So if we acquire that knowledge, we will transform the community. I highly appreciate what you’re doing. I want to see other people win. Also, I need to see my fellow Africans win and get this offer. This offer shouldn’t go to China, this offer shouldn’t go to India, it shouldn’t go to Japan, it should remain on the African continent because when an African gets the offer, it means that that person is going to come and transform our continent even if it’s not in East Africa. If he makes the changes in Nigeria, when Nigeria develops, they say Africa is developing.
Thank you, and we are doing it together. I mean, you are going over there to acquire knowledge and bring it down here to impact your community and people. It’s a collective effort. We are all doing what we can to make Africa what we envision it to become, so we appreciate you. Congratulations once again. And I hope you make the best of this opportunity.
Okay. Thank you very much, and thank you for what you’re doing to help us out here. Because you think of how you can help people, that is the kind of humanity that Africa needs if we are to progress.
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