Emmanuel Boakye

2022 Bridge Foundation Scholarship Recipient

Essay Excerpt

In Ghana, Africa, the place of my birth, my family was not affluent… My school in Ghana had computers, but they were not highly advanced. To this day, I remember how bulky those computers were compared to the ones I use today. Even though they were large, the initial exhilaration I felt working with them is still etched in my mind. I felt like someone who was destined for greatness…
Everything changed for me six years ago. On July 4, 2015, Independence Day, my family and I came to the United States of America. When I enrolled in my first American school, I was assigned a laptop to use in class. The difference in size, shape, and the feeling I got from using it mesmerized me. I explored its factory settings, tweaking it to observe the effect of the changes I made. Modifying aspects of that computer allowed me to gain knowledge and insight into computer basics. Later I started working with the software. I developed the skill to design and create things, eventually building my programming expertise.

… I have worked hard to develop various ideas to solve what I think are some of the world’s biggest problems, but I have not been able to bring the solutions to their realization. I believe the difficulty lies in not having all of the pieces academically and socially. Now that I have been accepted to the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), where I intend to major in Microelectonic Engineering, I will increase my understanding and build relationships that will help me to achieve my goals. Studying at Rochester Institute of Technology is the first step to what will be a positive, productive, and successful life.