Ramona Neferu

Canada, 2009–10

The GE Scholar-Leaders Program appealed to me because it acknowledges a student’s potential in the sciences, engineering, and business, as well as in community involvement and leadership.

Hi, I’m Ramona Neferu and I’m studying Engineering Chemistry at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. Until recently, Engineering Chemistry was the only program of its kind in North America. It provides the core of fundamental and applied chemistry that is comparable to that obtained with a Chemistry degree, along with the skills and tools needed by a professional engineer. It is a demanding yet rewarding program, combining science and engineering in a complete and well-organized manner. I am pursuing this program because I am very passionate about pure chemistry as well as industrial processes and systems. Most importantly, I’m interested in the way in which the two aspects (scientific research and industrial applications) are interconnected and how scientists and engineers collaborate to create an effective and efficient product. A strong hobby in business has helped me put this link into a wider perspective.

The GE Scholar-Leaders Program appealed to me because it acknowledges a student’s potential in the sciences, engineering, and business, as well as in community involvement and leadership. It also provides amazing opportunities such as meeting other Scholar-Leaders from across the country, as well as engaging students in enriching volunteering initiatives. Perhaps the way in which the GE Foundation Scholarship Program has impacted my career choices the most is how it reinforced the importance of innovation and of an effective management team in a company setting. As a result, I have a more realistic view of what is expected as an engineer or as a business leader. This wisdom will enable me to continue to explore career options while having a more complete working knowledge of the workplace setting. Currently I am planning on entering fields such as the water industry or power generation as a chemical engineer, working closely with researchers and businesses in order to solve issues at hand.

Had I not received the scholarship, my education plans would have been substantially different. The funding from the GE Foundation Scholarship program has helped me focus on my studies without the worry and pressure of earning a substantial amount of income from a part-time job during the school year. This has enabled me to excel and dive deep into my courses and in community involvement, enabling me to have many options for future endeavours, such as further education or employment. Without the scholarship, the extra commitments necessary to afford engineering tuition likely would have compromised my full potential.

The most valuable outcome that came out of the GE Foundation Scholarship Program for me was during an informal meeting with a very important leader at GE Canada. While talking about her experiences, she stressed the importance of travelling and being cultured, later stating that she wished she had gone on an exchange during university to expand her horizons. This notion had stuck with me at the time, but it wasn’t until the Scholar-Leaders and I arrived at a homeless shelter in downtown Toronto that I truly took her idea to heart. Our goal was to get to know and talk to low-income residents while volunteering at one of their barbeque events. I was very delighted to realize that we could connect with the residents based on where they have travelled to and from on their quest to find a better life. This experience and realization prompted me to travel as much as possible, soaking up new ideas, places, languages, and personalities, in order to better relate to those around me and to better understand the world. I’ll be going on a formal educational exchange to the University of St Andrews, Scotland this fall for my third year of studies, and I’m very excited and thankful that this scholarship program has helped me become a more well-rounded person as well as proficient in my studies. Thank you for changing my life, GE Foundation.