Professor Helen Hastie is Head of the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh. She is also an alumna and donor.
Here, she explains the transformational effect that studying at Edinburgh can have on our students, and why supporting access to education is crucial in ensuring the brightest minds continue to be able to study here.
This message to alumni is about something very close to my heart.
Access to education. Specifically, access to education at the University of Edinburgh.
Every day I see the transformational impact studying at Edinburgh has. Whether it’s the wonder on students faces when my colleagues deliver lectures on the latest AI methods or seeing students thrive in their sports, clubs, and societies, there is no denying that the Edinburgh experience can be life changing.
Knowing there are students desperate to study at the University of Edinburgh but feel it is not an option for them, because of the cost, breaks my heart.
Your university has committed to helping students from the lowest income backgrounds access an education at Edinburgh. I’m proud to say that Edinburgh offers one of the most generous scholarships in the UK for these students.
Will you consider making a gift to scholarships today? Your generosity and support will help give that opportunity of education to the best and brightest UK students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Your gift will go even further today. Your university is committed to helping with these scholarships and will match every $1 you kindly give. This will go directly to help provide undergraduate scholarships to students from the lowest income families.
These students need your help the most. Students like Yafet.
After moving from Eritrea when he was three years old, Yafet grew up in a council estate in an area called Little London in Leeds.
Life was busy with his dad working long shifts as a taxi driver and his mum looking after Yafet and his three younger brothers.
When Yafet was in secondary school, he had the opportunity to attend the local IntoUniversity Centre. It was here the doors to higher education were opened to him.
The centre supported Yafet and his friends from Little London with their homework. They held information sessions about university and the type of subjects you can study. They also arranged a residential trip to Edinburgh to explore the city and find out more about studying at university.
After that trip, Yafet knew Edinburgh was where he wanted to study. He had fallen in love with the city.
He’d also worked out what he wanted to study. His dad had often come back from work saying his clients recommended data science as a topic his sons should look at. His interest peaked, Yafet went on a computer science course offered at school and really enjoyed it.
The University of Edinburgh is renowned for its Artificial Intelligence research and teaching. Yafet decided he wanted to be at ‘the home for AI for Europe’. Highly skilled students from diverse backgrounds, such as Yafet, will help ensure that AI technologies are developed in a responsible way and accessible to all.
Thanks to alumni like you, Yafet is now in his third year studying Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science at the University of Edinburgh.
“Edinburgh has been everything I wanted from a university experience”
Yafet attributes his university experience to his alumni-funded scholarship. These scholarships for undergraduate students represent one of the most generous scholarships in Scotland.
Yafet is part of the Formula Student Engineering society, Informatics Rugby and went to his first ever ball with the Irish society. All of this wouldn’t be possible if he didn’t have the scholarship.
The scholarship allows Yafet to be social, to feel included.
He can pay the cost of a ticket to a ball. He can say ‘yes’ when his course friends ask him to join them for a coffee to discuss their upcoming presentation. Instead of working evening shifts, he can go to Formula Student sessions on a Tuesday and Thursday evening.
With the scholarship, he can concentrate on his studies and make sure he takes full advantage of the opportunity university provides. Yafet feels it levels the playing field, ‘there’s nothing that separates me and it helps academically on a day-to-day basis’.
His scholarship has enabled him to buy a laptop that is essential for his course. Also, he does not have to work multiple jobs around his studies to make ends meet.
The impact of the scholarship is clear to Yafet. He knows the scholarship has made him a better person. He’s a more rounded individual thanks to the experiences and financial freedom the scholarship has offered. The long-term impact is undeniable, both with his family and his future networks.
We know that around half of society does not directly engage with university. Around 50% of school leavers do not go into tertiary education. Within that 50%, there are thousands of students who are desperate to study at university but cannot see how to get there.
They come from the lowest income households and live in the most deprived communities. Often, like Yafet, none of their family has previously gone to university. Despite trying, families can struggle to navigate supporting their child to progress to higher education.
For many, the cost of moving away from home to study is enough for a student to feel defeated.
You can help create change now. Your donation to scholarships today will help others like Yafet.
Yafet is proof that giving to scholarships today will be one of the most rewarding investments you will make.
Not only will every $1 of your donation be matched by the University but it will also go directly to help students like Yafet, you are investing in people like Yafet.
In Yafet’s own words:
“Alumni donors have made me a better person. You’ve given me the freedom to pursue my passions and hobbies at the University of Edinburgh, such as being a mentor to school age children in a deprived area of Edinburgh.”
As an alum of the University of Edinburgh myself, I am proud that my university has committed so strongly to helping students from the lowest income families access an education here.
Today, together with your fellow alumni, will you join me in making a donation to scholarships? We need to help more talented students from the most deprived areas of the UK come to the University of Edinburgh.
Your gift to scholarships will make a significant difference. And remember, every $1 that you give today will be matched, meaning that your gift is doubled.
Thank you in advance for your support.
You can make a gift today by clicking the button below to go to our online donation portal