Rwandan student Cerise Inganji considers her mother her biggest inspiration for leaving home to study at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
鈥淪he鈥檚 the person who taught me to be disciplined, to be able to achieve whatever I want,鈥� Inganji said. 鈥淪he鈥檚 a hard worker, and I want to be like her when I grow up.鈥�
Inganji has visited home only twice since starting at 糖心Vlog传媒LR, but she still keeps a close connection with her mother in Rwanda.
鈥淪he鈥檚 there in every single thing I do,鈥� she said.
It鈥檚 no surprise Inganji was excited her mother was going to fly to the United States for the first time to watch her graduate with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in civil and construction engineeringSaturday, May 14, at the Jack Stephens Center.
Inganji is one of several Rwandan students in central Arkansas who earned聽a degree in construction engineering through a scholarship provided by the Rwandan 聽government.
With graduation completed, Inganji will start a full-time job as an estimator at , where she has been interning since January 2015.
After she works a few years, Inganji plans to attend graduate school.
鈥淚鈥檝e absolutely enjoyed my time here,鈥� she said.
A Donaghey Scholar, Inganji is part of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the African Student Association. She is also a member of the Rwandan Student Organization, where she served as president for a year.
In March, Inganji competed in the Planning + Design Student Challenge in San Diego, California, where her team won first place.
