I Almost Went Abroad...
The first unit of this year started with one big goal: college applications.
I had discovered something that gave me hope. Prestigious American universities don’t necessarily require application fees. Most of the time, you just fill out a waiver form or submit proof of your financial situation. Listening to interviews with students who made it to Harvard, MIT, Columbia, Stanford …from Ethiopia, I felt inspired. For the first time, I thought, maybe this is possible for me too.
But reality was harsh. No passport. No SAT. No TOEFL. No IELTS. The summer was already difficult—I was doing manual work just to support myself. So I promised myself, "Once I get to campus, I’ll dedicate myself fully to this dream."
Around this time last year, I found Mitku Kebede
(https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitiku-k-kayamo)
. I reached out to him, told him I wanted to study abroad, and sent my high school and entrance documents. He connected me with Mefthie Hailu, who was willing to pay for my IELTS exam fee. But my focus was the U.S., so I asked her to cover the SAT fee instead.
And honestly, I witnessed something in my life repeatedly. God kept removing my excuses. Every time I thought, “If only I had this…”—it happened. No more excuses. The question was: what was I going to do about it?
There was one big obstacle left: a passport. At that time, the Kebele offices weren’t functioning because of the Fano conflict. I tried countless times and failed. Finally, I called my cousin—and he did the whole process in a week for 4k birr(for administrators). Then I applied for a regular passport (5k birr). That’s 9k birr from my parents.
Next, I registered for the December SAT. Now the real challenge started. There was medicine. There was SAT prep. And then there was the college application itself—reflecting on my high school life, finding stories and activities (sometimes even re-framing them), writing essays, and filling out long, confusing forms.
For two weeks straight, I dropped everything else and studied for the SAT. I even told myself, “I don’t regret this effort, no matter the result.” Then test day came. And the test humbled me. Completely. I left the exam center sure that I had failed. I felt like all my work was for nothing. Because in college applications, a low SAT score is the same or even worse than no score at all.
The result? 1360.
I shifted strategy, and I applied to colleges that didn’t require SAT scores. Early decision, I tried three schools. Three rejections. Out of frustration, I applied to NYU Abu Dhabi (ED2). It’s a binding decision: if they accept you, you go. Even if Stanford accepts you later.🤗
The application deadline was Jan 1–5. But we had medicine exams on Dec 29 and Jan 3. I chose the application over the exam. I got 39/100. (Is that an F or a G? 😁) I later scored A+ on the remedial, by the way.
Then came the big news: NYUAD invited me. I would fly to the Emirates, visit the campus, and if everything went well, I’d be admitted. But remember: No passport yet.
The earliest appointment was in April. The visit was in February. My brother Yohannes tried everything with me to get an urgent appointment. We failed. My Telegram friends (fellow applicants) pushed me hard to find a way. I tried. I failed.
Still, I had hope: "If NYUAD wanted me, maybe other schools would too," I thought.
So I forced my brother to give me 23k to book an urgent passport appointment. (Btw, my livelihood is on my brother's hand. I can't thank or pay him enough, so I will leave it here.) I finally got it. But by then, it was too late. Regular decision results came in, and they were all rejections. Rejection after rejection.
I created hope to myself, my family and and relatives and then killed it. That’s the story.
A story I didn’t succeed at. A story I didn’t learn much from—at least not yet. But a story I sacrificed so much for: 32k+ birr, $111, and months of my life brainstorming, studying for the SAT, writing essays, and filling forms.
The big realization is that people are kindhearted. Before then, I always thought there should be a catch in these situations. But, Mitku, Mefthie... they supported me before knowing me. Ik they won't read this. I hope they will receive it from God.
Now? I’ve lost the interest to try again. Nobody loves Ethiopia more than me. I’m done chasing that dream.
Next up "I almost went insane..."
Until then share me yours please. 🙏