Opening Doors - University of Rhode Island

Opening Doors and Setting New Records
ANNUAL REPORT FY 2009
Verrecchia
Challenge Grant
Opening Doors
[a student’s story]
Juliet Banga ‘11
From the time Juliet Banga came to America to attend Wiley College in
2002 from her native Zimbabwe, paying tuition has been challenging.
Upon arriving, Banga had only enough money for one semester.
“My father sold everything he had to send me to this country. Luckily, I
was nominated for a scholarship that was renewed each semester, but
it was still a big struggle to stay. I worked every part-time job I could get
and sent money home to my family. They can go days without eating.”
Through it all, Banga never lost sight of her dream of becoming a physical
therapist. “When I was 10 years old, my aunt had a stroke. A physical
therapist provided her with an exercise routine. I devised a gym on a tree
using rocks and cloths and knew then this was what I loved.”
Her laser-sharp focus on this goal brought her to URI, where she enrolled
in the Doctor of Physical Therapy degree program. “I wasn’t sure how I’d
pay the $30,000 tuition, but I knew that if God brought me this far, he
wouldn’t leave me alone.”
Banga’s prayers were answered. She was awarded an assistantship at
a local hospital that paid $15,000. Her worries about paying the balance
were eliminated just two weeks before the start of her first semester
when Associate Dean of the Graduate School Harold Bibb let her know
that private donors paid the remaining $15,000.
Today, a URI Foundation/Graduate School Minority Fellowship covers
her tuition. Her final year begins in a matter of months, and Banga has
faith that she will obtain the financial resources. “The people in my
department are the best. They are people of God.”
With dogged determination,
she has come far from a
country where poverty and
AIDS claim many.
With dogged determination, she has come far from a country where
poverty and AIDS claim many. The same steely resolve will guide her
through her final chapter so that she can help others and serve as a role
model. “I want to work with cardiopulmonary patients after graduation
and give them back their lives. I love making a difference, and I’m thinking
of getting into ministry, also, to (positively) affect girls’ lives.”
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