Years ago, when I was accepted to Makerere University to pursue my first choice and dream course, a BSc in Industrial Psychology, those closest to me didn’t understand my career choice. And so, they decided that dream had to be closed.
But have you met me?
I carried a shaky vision of my dream through the years and authentically applied myself to every opportunity. This only fuelled my unfulfilled purpose. Determined to write my own story, I poured myself into 500 words, aced a nerve-wracking interview and finally received the ‘Yes’ to my first choice and dream! A fully funded opportunity to pursue an MSc in Occupational and Organisational Psychology at the University of Sussex in the UK.
Right there, was the first lesson of my Chevening experience:
Choice, Inclusion and Support.
Week One, while sitting through a course unit I had referenced in my Chevening application, I could not help as a deep sense of despair crept in. At the end of the class, nearly in tears, I approached the professor, “This won’t solve the problems in my country,” I said.
You see, I had promised in my application that this unit’s knowledge would be the solution to address the inequalities in my country. That professor, the brilliant Dr. Lilith Whiley, listened with empathy and she eventually would become my dissertation supervisor of choice. I, on the other hand, after a moment of self-reflection, learned my most important Chevening lesson:
Unlearn it all to learn it all.
Thus began the ink that would write my Chevening experience. I shed old layers and grew not just intellectually, but contextually. I was given the right to question and the choice to challenge. A safe space to critically answer my WHY and analyse my WHY NOT. Understood and sometimes misunderstood but always safely heard. I found my YOU in every encounter and built my WE through community.
Long days at the library (my favourite hideout), academic engagements, shared cold sandwiches and trips across the UK and beyond, I learnt. I tasted the snow, greeted like the Turks (thanks to my course partner from Türkiye), and sang my heart out at the Amex Stadium, cheering for the Albion Women’s Club. Through Chevening-organised tours; Bath enchanted me, and the Bard of Avon left me spellbound! Every self-doubt, silenced. My highlight, visiting the ILO in Geneva to say ‘yes’ to the adult version of my dream. Chevening taught me the value of intentionality in the present, the importance of holding space with purpose, and the bravery to pursue. For the brave is laid the wreath.
Inspired to share and collaborate, I organised the Sussex Cheveners Network. Invited was Dr. Matt, my Social Psychology professor, whose research on inequality and class discussions on leadership and culture would anchor the event’s theme. After all, Cheveners are leaders! The Careers Department shared key post-graduation support. Cheveners across the UK voluntarily supported. My classmates cheered on and pitched as the day’s photographers! A humbling moment, to have our new PO virtually share a message.
We are our networks, that day they expanded, and friendships blossomed. Soon after, I entered the university’s business idea competition, won a place in the Sussex Innovation Centre, and received a grant to support my start-up; Psyche Solutions, a social impact consultancy committed to redefining workplaces in Africa by addressing contextual barriers to human-centred global approaches. Ongoing mentorship from the Sussex Innovation Centre has helped us expand into Psyche Solutions Africa Foundation, our advocacy and community engagement arm.
What drives me now? The practical application of everything I’ve learned.
Inspired by my own incubator experience, I launched the Psyche Solutions Incubator in Karamoja, Uganda, addressing youth unemployment, regional inequality, and poverty. From my dissertation research, I am developing the UTU Framework, a culturally grounded model for workplace well-being and psychological safety. Inspired by the Swahili word utu (meaning human dignity and essence of being human). Our first webinar, supported by the Advocates Benevolent Association and Law Society of Kenya. We’ve now rolled out UTU Mental Health Pop-Ups to bridge the accessibility gap in mental health care and use creative expression to normalise mental health dialogue and challenge stigma. Our grassroots Basket Project co-creates rapid-impact solutions to address critical community needs.
Mentorship has shaped my experience and so I mentor: Law students at the University of Nairobi in partnership with Parklands Catholic Community, students at my former high school, Kawempe Muslim, aspiring Cheveners from Uganda, Kenya, Afghanistan, Egypt, and Bangladesh.
What’s next? I’m advocating for the repeal of Uganda’s law criminalising suicide and planning the first-ever Human Capital Conference in East Africa to bring actionable change to global workplace issues and local realities.
In the future, may no dream be dismissed by the question, “What does an organisational psychologist do?” Let the value be clear and the choice to pursue, freely made.
And when you ask me how, why, when, what or who?
I say:
I am a Chevener. I am Brave. I am Ambitious. And I have a Vision.
By Shamim Ibrahim, Chevening Scholar 2023/2024
MSc Occupational and Organisational Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK