Hauwa Ahmed | 2023 Rosedale graduate receives more than $780,000 CAD in scholarships from 12 global universities
Hauwa Ahmed is a 2023 graduate from Rosedale Global High School’s Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) program with partner Meadowlands Canadian School, located in Nigeria. She will begin studying for a bachelor’s degree in biomedicine at the University of Ottawa this fall with an International Excellence Scholarship worth $70,000 CAD.
In total, Hauwa received offers from 12 top universities in Canada and the US accompanied by more than $780,000 CAD in scholarships—one from nearly every university to which she applied. Her overwhelming success was a surprise for Hauwa, although in retrospect she realizes that her outstanding academic performance and preparedness for the application process should have led her to expect these results.
Her list of university acceptances and scholarship offers includes:
- Duquense University with a Libermann Scholarship for International Students worth $84,000 USD
- Hanover College with a Bicentennial scholarship and a Haq Scholarship worth $34,000 USD combined
- Illinois Institute of Technology with an International Tuition Scholarship and a Lewis College Scholarship worth $108,000 USD combined
- Merrimack College with a Trustee’s Scholarship and an Outstanding Future Warrior’s Scholarship worth $116,000 USD combined
- Miami University with a Miami Scholarship worth $88,000 USD
- Toronto Metropolitan University with an Entrance Scholarship worth $6,000 CAD
- Trent University with an Entrance Scholarship worth $10,000 CAD
- University of Ottawa with an International Excellence Scholarship worth $70,000 CAD
- University of Toronto
- University of Waterloo with a President Scholarship worth $2,000 CAD
- Wilfrid Laurier University with an Entrance Scholarship worth $12,000 CAD
- Xavier University with a Presidential Scholarship worth $110,000 USD
“Thanks to Rosedale’s English course, I was confident when writing my essays for university applications, because I knew how to structure my writing and grasp my readers’ attention,” says Hauwa. “I don’t think the list would be this long if I hadn’t taken the OSSD.”
Hauwa has always been interested in medicine, and for as long as she can remember, she was telling family members and teachers that she was going to be a doctor, even before she really knew the required skills and competencies. However, it wasn’t until she transferred into Rosedale’s OSSD that she discovered her love for research, and the transformative education model of the Rosedale OSSD supported her belief that she was fully capable of pursuing her childhood dream in a way that complemented her developing strengths and interests.
“I’ve had an interest in medicine since I was young, but then I didn’t know what it meant or how much responsibility comes with being a doctor,” Hauwa explains. “When I got into Rosedale, I discovered my intuitiveness and creativity which really help in my research, and now I know I can meet the level of responsibility required of me in medical research.”
Rosedale’s strength-based approach and real-world application allowed Hauwa to explore her interest in research; she was given opportunities to further explore course content through self-study and was equipped with the skills necessary for effective research. These assignments empowered Hauwa to take ownership of her learning, both through independent investigation and the confidence to ask for further instruction from her teachers—a skill Hauwa is thankful she developed in the Rosedale OSSD program as she feels more prepared to speak to her university professors to ensure the maximum benefit from her education.
Experiencing the most out of every opportunity is very important to Hauwa. Last October, she attended the Global Student Success Forum where she interacted with many elite universities, including the University of British Columbia, Queen’s University and the University of Waterloo. She made sure to seek out these universities as they were high on her list of interest and was prepared with questions for recruitment staff and was thrilled for the interaction and networking opportunity.
“The Q&A was quite informative and allowed me to learn more about how the universities operate, I have never experienced anything like it,” says Hauwa. “Without the forum, I think I would have been more nervous and my applications would have been less organized and ineffective. I wouldn’t have known anything about the universities, it would have just been a blind guess.”
Reflecting on her personal growth through Rosedale’s OSSD program, Hauwa is proud of herself. The program’s transformative competency development and diverse evaluation challenged her to perform at a level that exceeded her expectations, and in so doing, inspired the confidence she needs to pursue her individualized pathway through higher education and beyond.
