Rhoda Tano-Menka ‘19
Wellesley Students’ Aid Society Annual Meeting
Reunion Weekend 2019
“I stand here today, an honors graduate of Wellesley College thanks to the Wellesley College Student Aid Society. I grew up in Ghana until the age of 18 when I won a scholarship to pursue the international baccalaureate program at the United World College (popularly known as UWC) in Flekke, Norway. It was at UWC that I first heard of Wellesley College, and based on the wonderful conversation I had with the visiting college representative, I decided to apply. The more I learned about Wellesley and the incredible alumnae it has produced, the more I wanted more than anything to attend this great institution. I will spend several hours on YouTube watching the Wellesley 100 videos and several other videos by the admission’s office, current Wellesley students and Alumnae. I kept up with the college so much that one would have thought I was already a Wellesley College student. I knew this attachment to a college I had not yet gained admission was not entirely healthy especially as my college counselor had informed me that Wellesley typically accepted only two out of the about five students who applied annually from my UWC to the college. Nonetheless, I couldn’t help myself as I continued stalking the college until I received my acceptance letter on Tuesday, March 24th, 2015. My joy knew no bounds, especially because I had received a full scholarship thanks to the generosity of the alumnae association and the Davis Foundation. Therefore, I anticipated very little if any financial difficulty in my Wellesley journey. But as always, life had other plans.
"My mom, who was the primary caretaker of my family as my retired dad received minimal monetary pension benefits, lost her trading business to scammers. This unfortunate incident made me and my older sister, the primary caretakers of my younger sister, who was then beginning her education at the University of Ghana as well as my parents. This role was a heavy responsibility for a 19-year-old girl about to enter college. My very first-semester was very challenging as I worked 20 hours a week between the Lulu Chow Wang and the Bates dining halls while balancing my coursework in intensive chemistry, calculus II, my first year writing class, and Intermediate Spanish to support myself and my family. This schedule left very little room for socializing; I felt very lonely and homesick, and crying myself to sleep became a nightly ritual. Discovering the Wellesley College Student Aid Society completely my life turned around at Wellesley. It served as a cushion upon which I could fall in my time of financial need which enabled me to worry less about money and have a somewhat normal college experience. Time constraints prevent me from listing all the incredible contributions this organization has made in my life, so I will list four of times the student aid society provided immense help in my time of need.
"In my sophomore year, I managed to save up enough money to travel back home to Ghana for Christmas; I hadn’t been home in almost two years, so I was really looking forward to this trip. However, I had to send this money home to help pay back some loans my mom had incurred in the process of trying to restart her trading business. I was devastated and frustrated, but I still really wanted to go back home, so I approached the student aid society for a loan/grant. I received a $1,000 grant and a $500 loan that enabled me to travel back home to see family and relax. The semester following this trip saw a significant increase in my GPA.
"After an excellent study abroad experience in Germany in the fall of my junior year, I returned to Wellesley to find that all my clothing, including items I had intended to wear during the Albright Institute winter session, had been tossed accidentally. The Student Aid Society granted me access to the clothes closet, which was already closed for the winter. Thus, I was able to dress appropriately and feel comfortable during the winter session that turned out to be one of the most formative experiences of my Wellesley career.
"At the end of my junior spring semester, I got the incredible opportunity to intern at the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard. All the housing options I found required a security deposit and the first-month rent to be paid upfront before move-in. I didn’t have enough money saved up, so I approached the student aid society for a $1,500 loan which they gladly lent to me. Thus I was able to conduct cutting-edge research in HIV immunology, which resulted in a senior thesis project for which I won the coveted Pamela Daniels Fellowship and also got awarded honors in my chemistry major.
"A few weeks before the end of my final semester at Wellesley College, my dad got very sick; we were unsure he would be able to make it. It was not a wise financial decision to fly home as my imminent graduation required that I saved up enough to obtain housing after graduating from Wellesley. After several nightmares in which I kept seeing my father’s corpse, I approached the student aid society for a loan or grant. To my utter surprise, I was awarded a $1,500 grant. I immediately burst into tears after this news; I was in awe of their generosity. I booked a round trip ticket to Ghana, and that night, I slept soundly for the first time in several days. I was able to see my father, who is steadily recovering. We now joke that he only got sick because he wanted me to come home.
"The Wellesley Student Aid Society is a great treasure of the Wellesley Community; they make Wellesley a more equitable place. They make the challenging Wellesley college experience tolerable for myself and several other students. The remarkable experience I had at Wellesley College would have been impossible without this organization. There are no words to describe my immense gratitude and appreciation for the donors and staff who keep this organization running, and I will make it my life mission to pass this generosity forward. I will end this speech by uttering thank you in three Ghanaian Languages as well as Norwegian and German.
Meda wo ase pii! Oyi wala doŋ! Meɖekuku! Tusen Takk! Dankeschon!”
