South Africa Student Profiles
We currently have four students from South Africa. With offices in Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg, the number of South African program participants is expected to rise. Below we profile our students currently studying in the United States.
Mthokozisi Bright Mazibuko
Duke University 11'
Mthokozisi Mazibuko was born in Kwa Mashu, a township in Durban, South Africa. This is where he would grow up, experience life, attend, and fall in love with school. In particular, high school had a profound impact on him for the people he met there were truly inspirational; models not so much older than he changed his thoughts. He would then proceed to be involved in student government of the school eventually becoming president of the student body on the year of his graduation.
Through his participation in Project Citizen, a program that seeks to address issues facing schools and communities, he would gain attention from an American native from whose suggestion emerged USAP in Durban of which he was the first and only participant. He is currently a freshman at Duke University, North Carolina, pursuing his dream of becoming a Mechanical Engineer, which should materialize on the dawn of August 2011 upon his graduation.
Sieraaj Francis
University of Pennsylvania 11'
Sieraaj Francis was a member of the first graduating class of The Cape Academy, representing the school as one of nine of their students to achieve distinctions in their Matric exams. At the end of tenth grade, he participated in the First International Young Mathematicians' Convention which entailed a competition of which he was a part of his school's first team. It was in eleventh grade when Sieraaj fell in love with computer programming. He was always fond of computers and played around with them and he loved the challenge of using programming them towards certain solutions.
He is now pursuing a BAS in Computer and Cognitive Science and is undeclared as a BA pursuing student at the University of Pennsylvania. He plays club rugby at the university, is a member of the university's Intercultural Leadership Program, plays soccer for a team in the CASA league in Philadelphia and he is one of eight of the first Penn World Scholars.
Nkosingobile Tholomusa Ngubeni
St. Lawrence University 11'
Nkosingobile Tholomusa Ngubeni or "Musa" for short was the first Johannesburg student to be accepted onto Usap and be awarded a full scholarship. Musa grew up in Soweto Township, south of Johannesburg City where he attended Bhukulani High School. He matriculated in 2006 with four distinctions in his final exam. He achieved top 30th out of all matriculants in Soweto that year. Musa was an HIV Aids Peer Counselor at his school and church for which he received many accolades.
Taking up his scholarship at St Lawrence University was Musa's first opportunity to travel outside of South Africa. He loves every minute of being a student at St Lawrence University where he is pursuing a major in International Business.
Banele Webster Booi
Wesleyan University 11'
Banele Booi is from Knysna, South Africa, and he attended the Cape Academy of Maths, Science and Technology for the last three years of high school. He was selected by the Make a Difference Foundation to receive help with the costs of his education, and in grade 12, he was selected as a Usap student to apply to study in the United States. His dream is to make a better person of himself so that he can be a valuable asset to his community and to South Africa.
Banele is attending Wesleyan University in Connecticut and plasn to graduate in 2011. He is contemplating Engineering (electromagnetic & electric) as a potential major or Economics (probably financial economics). He hopes to equip himself so that he can reach to the places in his home country of South Africa where the government and its officials have difficulties reaching.
At Wesleyan, he plays junior varsity soccer and works in the university's library.