Students from Alberta, Ontario welcomed as Kennedy Scholars

Sara Affara and Nandini Seth grew up in different provinces, but they have a lot in common. They both have supportive families, they both have impressive high school resumes, and they both have a keen interest in computer programming. The young women, who have become fast friends at UCalgary, are also both proud winners of Kennedy Scholarships. 

“I was so happy when I found out that both Kennedy Scholars are Sara and I,” Seth said in an interview. “I’m so excited. Both of us are women – and it’s insane.”

The Kennedy Scholars Program offers two five-year scholarships for students entering the Bachelor of Computer Science program in UCalgary’s Faculty of Science, followed by the Master of Management program in the Haskayne School of Business. In computer science, the students learn from world-leading experts in areas such as cybersecurity, software development, game design, human-computer interaction, and AI. Once they add the master’s degree, they will then be prepared to start their own businesses or become changemakers in a large corporation or non-profit organization. The full-ride scholarships are worth up to $125,000 for the top candidate from outside of Calgary and $75,000 for the best applicant from the Calgary area. Business leader Paul Kennedy gifted $2.3M to the program in 2022, making it one of the most prestigious in North America.

‘Become a game developer’

Sara Affara grew up in Airdrie, Alta., after moving to Canada from Egypt as a child. The 17-year-old likes art, both doodling and sketching, and enjoys playing video games. “I want to go into computer science to become a game developer,” she says. “My love for games was what started that – and art, so together I felt like computer science was a nice mesh of the two.” She’s also active in Tae Kwon Do, one of the oldest forms of martial arts.

“I’m a black belt and I’ve been teaching classes as well,” she says. “I teach a lot of children’s classes. That’s my part-time job.” Affara continues to teach because she enjoys it. “That’s partly why I picked the University of Calgary. I wanted to be close to my Tae Kwon Do place.”

She says she had also heard good things about her closest university. “It has a good reputation,” she says. “I like the entrepreneurial mindset that’s embraced at the university – that’s what I want to do.”

She hopes to one day open her own game studio. “It’s a really good university … to start something, which is the slogan, but that wasn’t intentional,” Affara says with a laugh. “It fits. I feel like it’s a good spot to start getting ideas.”

‘I should learn to code’

Nandini Seth, an 18-year-old from St. Thomas, Ont., says she initially planned to go to university closer to home. The Kennedy Scholarship, however, was too good an opportunity to pass up.

“The fact that I didn’t have to worry about tuition fees, I get to live in the Scholars’ Advantage Community,” she says. “The whole privilege you get after getting this scholarship is insane. I am really proud of myself for putting in the work in high school, so I can have more ease of mind while I’m here.”

Seth was born in India and moved to Atlanta when she was nine. Her family moved to Ontario in 2020. During high school, Seth worked hard at her academics – particularly math – and formed a math peer tutor club with one of her teachers. She dances – Indian classical and hip hop – to relieve stress.

Seth was also part of her school’s musical, served on the student council and was on the swim team. “I did so many clubs,” she says. “I didn’t have an interest picked out by 11^th grade, so I (decided) to try everything and see what sticks.”

That’s when she decided to take a computer science course. “I thought, ‘I should learn to code, that would be useful,’” says Seth. 'Then I took it and I thought, ‘This is amazing, this is exactly what I want to do.’”