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Andile Dube
The most obvious reason that would drive one to sit down and write an essay or design a colourful poster for the Dstv Eutelsat Star Awards is the exciting prize of a lifetime, an all expenses paid trip to Paris, the French Guiana or South Africa.

It is not every day that an African child witnesses the roar of a rocket as it shoots off towards the sky with a satellite, the most essential piece of technology in our survival as the human race in modern times.

The Eutelsat competition is a gateway to technological knowledge as it challenges secondary and high school students across Africa to think outside the box on a yearly basis with only one goal in mind; the betterment of African lives through the use of space satellites.

Imagine being given that rare opportunity to visualise the Africa of your dreams from above the blue sky, something that would build you not only as a student but as relevant citizen in the future of your country and continent at large.

With this competition you get to be an inspiration to a lot of people who might decide to follow your path and so as you pen down your essay or design a poster, you become a leader and a motivation to the people in your circle and beyond.

Amazing scholarships also await for prospective students like you; not to mention the celebrity scale media coverage and so at the end of the day there is a prize but its more than that. It’s about making your people proud and becoming a driving force towards the eradication of hopelessness and this so-called scourge called “backwardness” in Africa.

I am an engineering student today because Eutelsat and Dstv gave me an inspirational platform to widen my vision and knowledge through a futuristic essay theme.

Andile Dube won a country essay award in 2016 as a pupil at St Columbas School in Bulawayo.