Now U of T grads, three Mastercard Foundation Scholars keen to give back to their communities

Over the years, U of T has welcomed dozens of bright students through the current iteration of the program – many of whom were eager to help their communities both locally and back home. Michael Samakayi (BA 2021 WDW), a Deaf student from Zambia, helped launch an American Sign Language Club on campus and successfully advocated for an undergraduate linguistics course in the Faculty of Arts & Science that focuses on ASL and Deaf culture. Emmanuela Alimlim (BA 2018 WDW), the first from her village in Kenya to study abroad, founded an initiative to support and encourage students in Kenya who are seeking to access higher education.

“We are confident that the impact of this inspiring Mastercard scholars’ gift will continue to be felt both here in Canada and in Africa for many years to come,” said David Palmer, vice-president, advancement. “Bolstered by the education and real-world experiences they received through this visionary program, these talented young students are already making a difference in their communities.”

When I first joined U of T in 2017, I already knew I wanted to pursue research, which is one of the reasons I decided to join the chemical engineering program.

I quickly got involved in research by becoming an undergraduate research assistant in food engineering in my second year. I found many aspects of research work very engaging and rewarding – from working in the lab to working on a research poster.

All this culminated in presenting my research work at Undergraduate Engineering Research Day here at U of T. I found my research work so fulfilling that I decided to work on an independent thesis project. Through this, I went through the process of conducting my research independently in the lab, leading a literature review and presenting to a panel of professors.

My U of T journey has been filled with lots of learning experiences. When I came to U of T in my first year, it was quite hard for me to really understand people because it seemed that they spoke too fast and my classes were hard to find. The winter season was very difficult for me, and it was hard to navigate my way to class during the winter semester, but with help of the MCF office and the engineering faculty I was able to get through my first winter semester.

Another good learning experience for me was running for wellness director of the ChemClub in my second year. I was always reserved in my first year and I didn’t engage in any activities as I was getting used to many things, but this role opened me up to many opportunities and connections with people in the chemical engineering department.

Over the course of my time at U of T as a student at Rotman, I’ve had many opportunities to learn about the world of economics and finance outside of the classroom. Firstly, I secured a position as a part-time junior analyst at FirePower Capital, a Toronto-based investment firm. I learned a great deal from the investment team, many of whom have been working in the finance sector for many years.

I was able to parlay that experience into an internship at Credit Suisse in New York on the global market team. Not only did this allow me to further my knowledge of finance and global market trends, but I also got to experience a different culture in New York. As someone who didn’t have much experience outside of my home country of Zimbabwe until I joined U of T in 2018, getting to live and work in New York opened my eyes to the different work cultures and social mores. I saw how these customs and behaviours overlapped or differed from my own. In addition, I’ve learned how to better understand and relate to people of different cultural backgrounds.