Mercy Anyango Okoth, 19, is a winner for the World Bank #BlogDev2016 competition. This April, she Mercy will get the opportunity to travel to Washington DC, America, to be part of the World Bank IMF Spring meetings. Undertaking Financial Economics under the School of Finance and Applied Economics (SFAE), Mercy delights in the fact that she wanted to venture into something new before applying for the competition, and out of a well written blog she now gets to travel to a country she loves.

 

The excited young lady is soon entering her third year of the Financial Economics course, and has enjoyed being top in her studies, hoping she will get to appear on the Dean’s list before finishing school.

 

Studying Financial Economics has been interesting, with ups and down but generally a good challenging experience.

 

While searching through her emails one day, Mercy received an email from Strathmore Communications about the Blog for Development contest by World Bank, which she realized would be a good opportunity for her to try out something new.

 

I applied for the contest and wrote a 500 essay on Financial Inclusion- Helping Businesses Improve Financial Viability. I was shortlisted with 10 other finalists, we were interviewed and a week later I was shortlisted further. I then interviewed again with a panelist that include renowned news presenter Julie Gichuru; that was exciting. After another week I was called to be informed that I won the competition.

Mercy won a fully paid trip to Washington DC, where she and the finalists will have the privilege of sitting through the World Bank IMF Spring meetings, where they will be discussing key issues affecting developing countries.

 

I’ll get to meet decision makers, ministers of finance, central bank governors and I will get an opportunity to interact with them, learn from them and share ideas with them.

This is the first time Mercy has ever blogged. She is grateful to Strathmore for giving her the Finance background knowledge she needed for the blog, and also for motivating her to try something new from the email sent out.  

 

I chose to study Finance as a course to be able to contribute and be part of key decision making processes in an organization and the society at large. I also wanted to learn analytical skills to help me think outside the box, and create opportunities for myself like what I’m currently doing through the blog.

 

Aside from studying, Mercy is also a member of the AISEC club, specifically the business development portfolio. Being in this club has tied in with her course in that, she continues to learn, analyze and assess businesses.

 

Being in this club has allowed me to learn how businesses work, what is required for growth and how to be a part of that. The financial economics teaches me the technical part of this aspect.

 

Mercy is the Middle born in a family of three children. She attended Kianda Girls High School where she attained grade A- in her KCSE National Examinations. She believes that the world is moving in a fast pace, an aspect that motivates her to work hard and continue to excel with her studies.

 

I do not want to be left behind, I want to be the next game changer, and be extraordinary in all I do too.

In the next 5- 10 years I hope to have completed my masters and launched my business idea that I discussed in my blog.

Mercy draws her motivation from her parents, who she believes have worked hard to be where they are, and have always stayed motivated regardless of any challenges. She also draws inspiration from her mentor, an alumna of Strathmore, Eve, who is always excelling and pushing through in her career and spiritual walk.

 

When she’s not studying, Mercy loves taking nature walks, listening to music and meeting new people.

 

 

Congratulations Mercy on the win!