Meet Chang - scholarship student, future professor

Meet Chang, A Level scholarship student and future professor!

Chang is an enthusiastic and driven student, who has already achieved 4 A’s in Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Physics at AS Level, and has studied at Baobab since early learning. He has a healthy balance in life, enjoying playing football with his boarding mates, while also having time to focus on his studies. He enjoys the freedom within boundaries at Baobab, has adapted to the independent style of learning that A Levels demand, and shows maturity in his work and attitude.

Chang’s perspective is influenced by having studied both at Baobab and in China. His time overseas helped to improve his Chinese, but he much prefers the teaching style at Baobab.

“Learning is more effective here because in China I spent a lot of time doing homework and studying and I barely had any time to have fun. I felt like I still didn’t learn really well. Since I came back, I now have two hours in the afternoon where I play football, but I can still manage to do the work. I have friends in China who have school every day and barely have any holidays but they don’t really learn more than me. I don’t understand it.”

Chang’s high standards in academics are not in doubt. He recently took part in Baobab's team at the National School Quiz Championships, which came third in the prestigious international event, he was Zambia’s top student in the UK Maths Challenge and had a 1,500 score out of 1,600 in his SATs. Chang feels that the teaching style for A Level at Baobab has helped him to mature as a student.

“When it comes to A Level, the teaching style changes. They encourage me to go and find the answers myself instead of teaching me everything. This makes things more difficult but once I’ve learned things, I find that I understand it better than before. It will be helpful for going to university, that I can learn by myself and I don’t need anyone to motivate me – I can self-motivate, which I think is really important.”

Boarding life has clearly had a big influence on Chang, helping him to develop his social network and his English language skills. He also enjoys the interaction with younger students.

“It’s a great relationship between everyone. I get a lot closer with my class mates, I get to know a lot of younger students from Year 7 to Year 11, which I wouldn’t have known if it wasn’t for boarding. They respect us, but we also help them to get better. People are supportive of each other.”

Chang is very clear on his ambitions for the future. With the support of Baobab’s university application programme, he has applied to many of the top universities in the US, including UCLA and Berkeley and would love to get an offer from Yale. He will study bio-chemistry or neuro-science and intends to become a university professor.

“I enjoy experiments and learning things that way so I might as well carry on doing that for the rest of my life! Teaching other people also makes me feel great. Juniors often come to me and ask for help with maths, chemistry and stuff. Sometimes they come back the following day to tell me that what I taught them was really helpful in class. I feel really great about it, so being a professor would be a good fit for me”

When asked to describe Baobab in a few words Chang thoughtfully answered that it has the best grounds compared to any other school in Lusaka and has a relaxed, friendly environment where he feels part of a family and community.

Chang is currently enrolled on Baobab's scholarships programme. He feels that the scholarship is an honour and he is grateful for the recognition of all his hard work in previous years. This motivates him to do better.

Chang first heard about the Scholarship and Bursary Programme available at Baobab through a friend. After a bit of investigation, he enquired at the office and found the application extremely easy and the process was completed quickly.

Applications are now open for Baobab A Level scholarships 2020. Applications are invited from high achieving students looking to enter the A Level programme at Baobab in August. For more information go to www.baobabcollege.org/admissions/bursaries-scholarships or email Catherine Mulenga at [email protected] to request the relevant information and application form.