From humble beginnings: Guyana’s Howard University scholarship awardee takes greater heights to further studies in China

Mar 16, 2025 Features / Columnists, News, Waterfalls Magazine

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By Shania Williams 

Kaieteur News- In Guyana, many individuals are filled with potential and ambition but face challenges to break free from their circumstances to achieve their dreams.

Moriah Hamilton, a young woman from humble beginnings is a perfect example that no  matter the smallest or impoverish place you come from or how difficult a situation may be, one’s  ambition and willingness can lead them out of the trenches and accomplish more than they could have imagined.

Four years ago, a then 19-year-old Hamilton from Sophia Georgetown, made her community and family proud when she accepted to attend the Howard University in the United States to study Civil and Environmental Engineering as a major and computer science as her minor.

Now, at age 23, Hamilton has reached even greater heights by becoming one of the 2025-2026 Schwarzman Scholars—one of the world’s most selective graduate fellowship programmes. As part of this prestigious programme, she will attend a fully funded, one-year Master’s degree programme in Global Affairs at Schwarzman College, Tsinghua University in Beijing, China.

Hamilton is one of only 10 scholars chosen, and notably, the first Guyanese woman to be selected from nearly 5,000 candidates—the largest number of applicants in the programme’s history.

Throughout her time at Howard University, Hamilton had engaged herself in many programmes in her field and took on roles such as President of Howard’s Engineers without Borders Chapter and a Climate Change Youth Ambassador for UNICEF.

Speaking with The Waterfalls, Hamilton shared her experience of college life at Howard. “It felt like a season of success in some way.  It’s quite public, but also quite motivational. It felt good for something to finally come to light, after just having so many aspirations,” she said.

Studying at a prestigious institution came with its challenges. The scholarship awardee admitted that her first two years at university were overwhelming, especially as she balanced multiple activities while attempting to fast-track her courses.

“I would say the first two years of the course, originally, I was fast tracking the courses within three years, so I had lots of credits in between first and second year, and then I was just trying to do a lot of like school clubs and a bunch of other stuff.”

She further shared how she was able to overcome these challenges by reminding herself of her goals and surrounding herself with like-minded individuals who shared her ambitions. Hamilton said that she always strives to maintain high grades.

As Hamilton prepares to complete her studies at Howard University in May 2025, she shared her journey to becoming a Schwarzman Scholar. Initially doubtful of her chances, she almost didn’t apply but her mentors and community encouraged her to take the step.

“I was watching the programme for a while, but I can remember, like, writing in my journal maybe two weeks before, and I was talking with my mentor the whole time. I was like, I know this is a lot to put together, because I started my application late, and I don’t know. I just wrote my journals like; I don’t know how to get this the applications done in 11 days.”

“But just felt in my stomach, I felt like that programme was meant for me, or like curated for me, it’s very entrepreneurial, and it’s global. It is development focused, its very niche and not overly academic. So I just thought it was the perfect programme for me. So when I heard I got in, this is just perfect. This is God sent,” Hamilton expressed.

For the love and gratitude of her country and the aim of giving back, Hamilton expressed hope in coming back to Guyana to contribute. However, she is unsure of her immediate plans of coming right back to Guyana after her programm .

Hamilton explained, “I think after Schwarzman programme is very work oriented and networking oriented because there’s just so much interaction with officials. Not everybody’s at the undergrad level. We have, like, med students, people that work with municipalities in Dubai, in India. So you just really just never know. They say to, keep your expectations open, to what plans you have after but I do intend to come back to Guyana. Will it be immediately after? I still don’t know, because this is like, it’s 10 months in China with people from all over; meeting people from everywhere. So I think I’ll see where passion takes me so, but I’ll be back here for sure.”

Reflecting on her younger self , Hamilton admitted that she never imagined being where she is today, but her desire to match her energy, personality, and passion with her work has always driven her .

“I didn’t imagine my path like this but I’ve always wanted to do something that matches my energy, my personality, and my passion, around development,” she said. Her inspiration stems from witnessing her country’s potential for growth and advancement. “

“In Guyana, I think that we’re just so resource filled. There’re so many opportunities here, and we’re such a beautiful country that I think that we deserve, we deserve that kind of advancement, and I want to help with that,” she added.

Hamilton also encouraged young girls to dream big. “Dare to dream. There is no limit to what you could do. When I was at QC, I was the only girl in my physics class and the only girl in my green engineering class. There’s a lot of strength in being the anomaly, and you can gather perseverance and resilience from being the only woman in the room.”

Speaking to The Waterfalls Hamilton’s mentor, Patrick Stephens, praised her determination and resilience, highlighting the challenges she faced and how her vision for the future set her apart.

“Ms. Hamilton’s story is a powerful reminder that no matter the challenges, with determination, community, and a vision for the future, anything is possible,” he said.

(From humble beginnings: Guyana’s Howard University scholarship awardee takes greater heights to further studies in China)

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• Howard University, Moriah Hamilton, Schwarzman College

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