6 Ways You Win With YLSS
Exploring ways to make the world a better place? If your goals include fighting poverty and social and economic injustice in Egypt, the Yousriya Loza-Sawiris Scholarship (YLSS) program can give you the tools you need. Basic prerequisites: an undergraduate degree, strong English, and two years of relevant work experience (full requirements),
What’s your gain? The scholarship’s itself of course is the first way you win, making the rest possible. You receive full tuition, living expenses, travel costs, and health insurance to support you through the Master of Development Practice (MDP) program at the University of Minnesota.
Beyond that the MDP is not just your standard master’s degree. Its remarkable strengths will build yours in many new ways:
- Chance to combine many areas of study. Based in the world-leading Humphrey School of Public Policy, MDP allows mixing and matching other areas such as public health, education, and natural and social sciences to fit individual goals. While many students bring social science backgrounds to the program, MDP accepts applicants from a range of majors, from computer science to pharmacy. “Urban development, transportation, energy, urban planning, such an interdisciplinary program,” comments alumna Sara Zaghloul, who had an architectural engineering background. “People from so many fields fit perfectly.”
- Practical focus. You’ll find yourself examining “the real world side of things,” as alum Sara Ragab Hussien puts it. Instead of a theory-based thesis, you will dive deep into multiple sustainable development projects, with serious responsibilities.
- Personal attention. Limited enrollment and the MDP’s hands-on focus mean you’ll be working closely with professors. Added support comes through the scholarship program and your network of fellow scholars.
- Diverse connections. Traveling from Egypt to the United States is just the start. An eight- to ten-week field experience and a final capstone project are typically international, and you will engage from the start with colleagues and mentors from around the world. Expect growth, and challenge. “Many projects are group projects,” remembers alumnus Mohamed Fouad. “You have to be open to accept different people, different nationalities, different ideas…..”
- Greater self-confidence. A common theme among the students and graduates we’ve spoken with is that MDP participation built self-confidence along with the ability to present themselves successfully.
- Skills in building and evaluating programs that improve lives. MDP teaches its students to listen and to examine options with care. It “gave me tools to find answers from the communities themselves,” comments past scholar Nayera ElHusseiny.” to see whether we can add value or might do more harm than good. That was my key takeaway.”
Interested? Want to know more? Check out this FAQ and register for the free webinar to be held September 8 at 6 p.m. Cairo time.