My Background, My Passion, My ALA Experience

My name is Magnifique Nsengimana. I am a 17-year-old student at African Leadership Academy. I am extremely passionate about Science, especially the fields of Astronomy and Robotics Engineering.

My Background:
I grew up as a refugee for 14 years in Namibia in a small town called Rehoboth. I have always considered myself to be different from my peers in my community. While other students my age were out having fun, I stayed home learning and increasing my knowledge about the world around me. At the age of 14, I worked as a radio presenter at a local radio station called Live FM 90.3.  At the age of 15, I spent my weekends working as an intern at one of Namibia’s biggest production companies, dB Audio. I worked in the sound department and also showed a high interest in the lighting department. On my 16th birthday, 16 June 2011, I was inaugurated as the Junior Deputy Mayor of Rehoboth. That was one of my greatest achievements thus far in my life.

Managing my time in Secondary school with all of my responsibilities was a struggle. During my grade 10 year, in a typical week, I would go to school throughout the day and after school, I would take a mini bus to work at dB Audio because it was an hour’s drive away from where I lived.  I would get home in the evening and then do my homework and study. This was my routine during the week and on weekends I would spend my mornings at the office and focus on my studies in the afternoons. I also had to dedicate quite a lot of time to carry out my duties as Junior Deputy Mayor of Rehoboth.

The total pass mark for grade 10 in Namibia was a total of 42 points. Through hard work, commitment, and organised planning, I was able to pass.

Today, I have two years of work experience in the field of Sound and Light production, a grade 10 pass certificate, and the honour of having served my community in a large magnitude. I do not regret the late nights and not having the type of “fun” that I may have had to miss out on.

My Passion:
I spend most of my free time searching on the Internet for new robotic designs, especially those designed for military protection. It is my dream to one day design and invent a protection unit of robots that can be sent to places of war and conflict. These robots will have two main purposes:

• To be a replacement of soldiers so that families will no longer have to lose their fathers and/or sons in brutal wars
• To go to conflict sites to disarm and destroy all weapons so that people are not harmed or killed during a war.

I’m interested in Astronomy because I believe that there is much more to our diverse Universe than what meets the eye. My dream is to get a P.H.D in the field of Outer Space Science. I want to be the first African Scientist to lead a team to the discovery of extra-terrestrial life and I want to lead a team that will travel galaxies and go beyond our Cosmos.

How ALA contributes to my dreams:
ALA is truly an Academy that lives up to its values. I’ve only been here for a month but In the past month, my emotional intelligence has grown and I am now able to see the world around me with a different persepective. My choice of course subjects allows me to concentrate on Mathematics and Physics. Entrepreneurial Leadership, which is at the core of the curriculum at ALA, is a subject that I was introduced to when I came here and the lessons are wonderful in that they help you understanding yourself in depth before you can step into a leadership role. We are taught to have and to use a human-centred approach to any challenge and to put the needs of others before our own.  Personally, this approach is how I imagine Africa growing into a peaceful and prosperous continent. All our future leaders including myself, will need to take human-centred approaches to resolving the challenges we face.

I want to graduate  from African Leadership Academy with exceptional results and go on to study at a university that has great Science facilities. After earning my P.H.D, I shall return to Africa and begin my exciting life long journey of transforming Africa.

Magnifique Nsengimana is a first-year student at African Leadership Academy.