Send Senthan to MIT

“If you had one shot or one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted in one moment, would you capture it or just let it slip?”

Hello everyone,

Firstly, thank you for taking the time to visit this page. Your support already means the world to me.

My name is Senthan Naicker. I am a second year Mechanical Engineering student at the University of Pretoria and I have a deep passion for aerospace engineering, motorsports (F1 of course!) and all things maths and physics!

I am still trying to fathom that I was recently selected as one of four students (from UP’s engineering faculty) given the opportunity to spend my third year on an exchange programme at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT!!!), in Boston, USA.

This has been both mind-boggling and quite overwhelming!

All my life I have been dreaming of being a student at MIT - the opportunity to learn from so many different fields and people from all over the globe makes this university the ultimate place for me to pursue my aspirations. I am inspired by their transdisciplinary approach to solving some of the world’s greatest challenges.

Using my abilities to make the world a better place has, and always will be, my greatest goal.

I dream of becoming an inventor, a rocket scientist, a physicist. I want to play a part in pushing the limits of what humanity is capable of through maths and science.

As a student at UP, I have always been focused on this, but imagine how the opportunities that I will gain from MIT will take me a leap closer to achieving these dreams!

I also can't wait to bring back the knowledge I gain and help make an impact on the STEM fields in our beautiful nation of South Africa.

I worked extremely hard during my final year at school, and I even surprised myself when I became the top student in my year!

But, when I applied to do an undergraduate degree at MIT, unfortunately, I was not accepted (I guess it was not my time yet).

This exchange programme is my chance to prove to everyone, and myself, that I am capable of everything that I thought I was, and much more!

Being added to a WhatApp group where the display picture is the MIT logo is a sweet taste of how my dream is still alive. This is my opportunity to transform my dreams into my reality.

There is, however, one hurdle that is still in place.

It is a blessing that, through UP and it’s partnership with MIT, my tuition fees for the duration of the program (2026) will be covered. However, I will need to raise money for all the additional costs that will be involved - a student visa, flights, accommodation, and monthly living expenses.

And that’s where you will come in - any contributions (and the sharing of this news with your networks for their support) towards making this dream come true will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you again.

With love, and fingers crossed tightly,

Senthan