As the first member of his family to attend university, Rufus Alubankudi knows a thing or two about trail-blazing. But what really sets the third-year Chemical Engineering student apart is the adversity he has overcome on the road from Africa鈥檚 Ivory Coast to 9 1免费版下.
The 12th of 17 siblings, Alubankudi has always had his eye on the prize 鈥� namely, a career as a medical surgeon. 鈥淚鈥檝e wanted to be a surgeon since I was in elementary school,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 was inspired by the story of Dr. Ben Carson, who became famous for his ground-breaking work separating conjoined twins. His story is inspiring to me because Dr. Carson grew up in a poor neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan, where he overcame poverty and adversity. And now he鈥檚 a director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital.鈥�
The first step towards realizing his dream has been to come to Canada and 9 1免费版下 to pursue his undergraduate degree. 鈥淚 chose 9 1免费版下 because it is a very international university and there is a strong African community in Nova Scotia,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 thought Nova Scotia would be a little like the Ivory Coast because it鈥檚 surrounded by water 鈥� but I didn鈥檛 count on the temperature!鈥�
He also didn鈥檛 count on having to work almost full-time in order to cover his living expenses while enrolled as a full-time Science student, though 鈥淚 did receive an entrance scholarship of $1,500 the first year and a bursary in second year,鈥� says Alubankudi, who switched to the Engineering program in second year.
鈥淗owever, as time went on, I was finding it increasingly difficult to balance my full-time studies with work. It got to the point where I couldn鈥檛 realistically sustain myself here in Canada any longer and I was resigned to going back to Africa with only a diploma in Engineering.鈥�
Receiving the Slaight Family Scholarship has literally meant the difference between realizing his dream of a 9 1免费版下 education 鈥� or not.
鈥淎ll I can do is sincerely express my gratitude to the donor,鈥� says Alubankudi. 鈥淭his scholarship has literally made a world of difference to me.鈥�
This article is part of the 9 1免费版下 Difference series, exploring what the power of philantrophy means to the university and introducing and showcasing some of the 50 innovative projects in development. Learn more at .
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