Berea student earns Oxford scholarship
UKZN Politics and Economics student, Rachel Morrow of UKZN has her dreams come true after being awarded the opportunity to study at Oxford University in the UK.
RACHEL Morrow, a Berea Politics and Economics student at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), is “over-the-moon excited” about what she describes as a “surreal unbelievable reality.” The 22-year-old has been awarded the opportunity to study a Masters degree in ‘Global Governance and Diplomacy’ at Oxford University in the UK.
Morrow was one of two awardees to receive the Emma Smith Overseas Scholarship, a substantial complete scholarship, provided by the family of CG Smith, that acknowledges and encourages top-performing female students.
A consistent high-achiever, having entered the university on a merit scholarship for her outstanding matric results, Morrow excelled as one of the high-end achievers and continued to impress, completing a Bachelor of Social Science degree in Politics and Economics and an Honours degree in BCom Economics at UKZN.
Morrow says she is hugely excited about receiving the prestigious scholarship, not only for the opportunity to study at Oxford University and pursue her passion for development and conflict resolution but also for the opportunity to fulfil her keen desire to travel and see other parts of the world.
Feeling particularly blessed, she acknowledges that scholarships are difficult to attain, “I’ve applied for many and can never be sure of the outcome, the calibre of students is extremely high, the competition is fierce and the differences between results and achievements are marginal,” said Morrow.
Morrow encourages students to work hard to excel at a high level, “You don’t want to be one of thousands of students with an average aggregate of 50%; you want to be the best you can be.”
Her advice to the youth is to take full advantage of tertiary life experience. A member of the UKZN Yachting club, Rotaract Durban Berea (Youth branch of Rotary) and the Howard College Debating Union, Morrow says getting involved in these organisations helped her to learn and grow: “You create amazing things, you put in a bit of effort and get so much more of a rewarding experience out of it, you grow as a person and as a leader,”
Morrow says her after class activities gave her an opportunity to meet other students who have excelled before her, she says many of the friends she made along the way inspired her achievement today.
“I met other students who applied for and attained overseas scholarships, they helped me believe I could achieve the same. I set myself a goal, I visualised my dream of studying at Oxford, and it came true,” Morrow says that anytime she felt demotivated she’d google the Oxford University image and read over the course outline she set out to undertake. She also credits her mum for giving her strength by being “the rock” in her life.
Morrow says she loved her years at UKZN, “The courses I registered for in the first two years of study focused on critical engagement and encouraged me to have a broader worldview.” She says she is passionate about South Africa and Africa as a whole, and wants to be part of a solution by making a contribution to development and conflict resolution. Morrow leaves for the United Kingdom this month.
