Shingirai Dhoro ’20 of electrical and computer engineering is just back from attending the 10th University Scholars Leadership Symposium
August 19, 2019
Shingirai Dhoro ’20 of electrical and computer engineering is just back from attending the 10thUniversity Scholars Leadership Symposium in Malaysia’s capital city, Kuala Lumpur, with four other University of Rochester students. The symposium, which included 1,500 students from around the world, featured several sessions and panels designed to build contemporary leadership skills with a global perspective. The student leaders were asked to think about the ways they might lead and design change to address the suffering, hardship, and poverty in many parts of the world.
Shingirai, who is from Zimbabwe, says the symposium was a unique opportunity to meet young leaders from around the world and learn about what it means to be leader in a non-academic setting, “so that I can grow to become an effective leader one day.” Shingirai says the “most fun part was that I got an opportunity to ask a question to a UN representative about the structure of the UN Security Council. I have had so many debates on this issue but never got to hear from someone in the system so that was a great experience.” His main takeaway from the experience is that “world renowned leaders are just normal people who chose something, and worked hard and persevered in difficult times until they succeeded. My next step is to identify something that I want to pursue, something that will give me joy but at the same time help improve the quality of life of at least one other person.”
Shingirai, by the way, received a $10,000 Davis Projects for Peace award last year with Ashely Tenesaca ’20 of computer science to begin a sustainable water project in a village in southern Zimbabwe. He was a Xerox Engineering Research Fellow last summer, was a project manager intern this summer with Excellus BCBS in Rochester doing analytics and data, and was recipient of a Student Life Award (“Rocky”) earlier this year for exemplifying this year’s communal principle of responsibility.