Background

Hello! My name is Ronald King’ori, and I am a 17-year-old hailing from Nairobi, Kenya. I go to Braeside Lavington High School, and I am currently in my final year of my high school education. In early 2025, as I looked forward to finishing the first year of the taxing and unfamiliar territory of the A-level syllabus, all I desired was a refreshing summer. Naturally, the idea of a summer program was what first came to mind; however, I did not put in much effort into actively looking for one! I discovered Immerse Education by chance; little did I know where it would take me.

All about Immerse Education

I decided to register and take part in the Immerse Essay Competition 2025, an international contest open to high school students all over the world. Entrants were required to select a subject area—in my case, engineering—and either complete a research paper on the given topic or explore an area of personal interest within the field. The competition awarded scholarships ranging from 10% to 100% toward participation in one of Immerse’s Academic Insights or Career Pathways summer programs. Initially, I was drawn to engineering because I wanted to do the course in Tokyo, and learn how engineering is done in Eastern Asia. Unfortunately, I found out that all the slots had been taken, a realization that instantly crushed that dream. This left me with the question: what next? There were a myriad of options when it came to choosing courses. They ranged from math and physics, to literature, psychology and even philosophy! However, I strongly felt that if I could not pursue engineering, then taking something like mathematics or physics, subjects directly tied to my future studies, would not be as appealing. Instead, I opted to explore a completely new area, and learn a set of skills from a field that was not completely foreign to me, but one I was somewhat acquainted with. This is how I arrived at the decision to pick business management. Business management was available, but only at Cambridge, Oxford, or London. I decided on Cambridge, and in hindsight, I believe it was the best choice I could have made. Part of my decision also came from not wanting the program to feel like a repetition of school or university. I was looking for a summer experience that was both enriching and enjoyable, something that felt like a genuine break while still allowing me to learn. Although the content was pitched at an introductory university level, it was still structured in a way that made it engaging for high school students.

Procedure

The idea behind my essay was a super app! I broke down how I would build a super app that would enable people to plan all aspects of their travels and journeys, with multiple transportation options, all in one place. To provide a visual, this would look something like planning a trip where I would walk from Point A to Point B, use a taxi from point B to point C, take the subway from there to Point D, and complete my journey with a scooter to Point E: all the booking for the different modes of transportation would be done by the app. A few weeks later, I received an email from Immerse Education informing me that my essay had won a 20% scholarship, redeemable to any of their summer programs! During the brief follow up communication, I chose my program preference, there was a choice of two, career pathway or academic insights, then I chose my course subject, and wrote a short essay explaining why I wanted to study that course over the summer. I talked about how I'd like to start a business in the future, and that the course would be crucial in helping me understand the basics of scaling a business and keeping it afloat. As for choosing our preferred destinations,  that was done way before, alongside submitting the essay.

Why do you write like you’re running out of time?

It was an essay competition, so I only needed to work on that one essay. Everything else was pretty straightforward. I spent approximately 3 weeks researching and writing, however If I’m being completely honest, that estimate isn’t very accurate. I had spent a good chunk of time researching and making drafts, but eventually with the deadline approaching, I had no choice but to commit fully and push through the last 3 weeks to complete it. The competition provided some guidelines on how the essays would be graded, but these did not necessarily help me much when it came to structuring my approach to writing the essay. What I did know, however, was that the essay was meant to be a simple research paper. With that in mind, I adopted a framework that was just as simple; identifying the problems, considering the challenges, and then exploring possible solutions.

Mentorship and Resources

I did not use any mentorship services. I did however use a lot of resources while writing my essay, which is to be expected as it was after all, a research paper. Although they were available to me, and I did know of them, I did not read any of the success stories of Immerse alumni, or watch any of the past winners' videos. My focus was pretty much set on the task of completing my research and essay, so I never got the time to do so. Moreover, at that time, I also had a set of important exams in school coming up, pre-mocks, which only added to my stress and fueled me to direct my full attention into the essay.

Program fees

The base program fees were $6,995. That was residential. If you opted to do the non-residential course, that would be $5,995.  There was also an option where you could combine the residential courses with an online research program. I don't remember how much that one was, but it was roughly a bit more than the residential program. Like mentioned earlier, my essay won a 20 % scholarship, so I applied that discount when paying for the 2 week residential program.

Summer at Cambridge

I did not exactly have any expectations of how the classes at Cambridge would be, but I was pleasantly surprised with how similar they were to learning back at home! The only major difference was of course, the content we were learning, and the class sizes, with most of my classes averaging six people per class. Our lecturer was a lawyer by profession who dealt with people who were working towards starting businesses in the UK. Her teaching style was phenomenal, enabling me to digest the basics of business management pretty well. Our classes were also very engaging, so most times we would blend the theory and the practical, carrying out assignments in groups more often than as individuals. 

Our schedule was pretty full. Breakfast started at 8 a.m., then registration at 9:15. Classes ran from 9:30 to 11:30, followed by a two-hour lunch break, which was perfect because we had time to eat, relax, or even go shopping. The second class session was from 1:30 to 3:30. After that, we usually had afternoon activities, then dinner, and later an evening activity. Weekends were different; they were much more flexible. On Saturdays, we went on a trip to Oxford, and on Sundays, there was an optional trip to London. Some people explored the city, while others stayed at the college to rest. Looking back, I really enjoyed how the program balanced learning and fun. The small classes, the practical lessons, and the chance to explore new places made it a summer I’ll never forget.

Visa application

I did not get a student visa; I got a tourist visa, which was just a normal application process. In two weeks, it had been approved!

Working hard or hardly working?

When we had free time, I spent most of it with my new friends playing foosball or pool. The schedule had incorporated a number of planned evenings and afternoon activities, thus on some days we had sports days and events, on others we had karaoke, and I distinctively remember we even had cake and canvas Monday! We spent a good deal of time on inexplicably fun scavenger hunts, bonding fireside chats, and day excursions to London that were filled with shopping.

Despite it all, the most memorable activity we did had to be punting. There's a river called the River Cam in Cambridge, and usually, people go on it in a boat called a punt. Mobility with the punt does not come by with a classic pair of oars, there's a long rod which we used to dig into the ground to propel ourselves forward! The simple definition does not do justice to the levels of excitement the activity created. It was something I had never experienced before, and on the rivers route, we saw many other colleges of Cambridge that you otherwise could not have seen. 

Even during class, the atmosphere was so relaxed that it hardly felt like a typical classroom setting. My business class, in particular, was very enjoyable, I’m so grateful that I had a great teacher and supportive classmates, they made the experience even better! We had a few study sessions, for we had final projects to prepare and present, as well as general assignments and ongoing projects throughout the weeks. Overall, the classes themselves were engaging and a lot of fun.

All in all, I think it’s fair to say that there was a lot more life than work on the work-life balance scale. But you do also have to consider the fact that it was very rare to find yourself sleeping before midnight. You'd probably be working on your final project or on some class work.

Pitch perfect! (Business edition)

For our final project, we had to come up with a presentation for an original business pitch. This was something we’d been working on for the entire duration of the 2 weeks that we were there. My pitch was a recycling and upcycling business, specifically in the construction industry. That's the general gist of it, but during the pitch, we gave a very detailed breakdown of how our businesses would run, what problems they were solving, and similar crucial questions that you ask yourself when starting a business. A lot of what my presentation entailed was a thorough explanation of how the recycling, upcycling, and resale of manufacturing or construction materials would work. And it came in first; I won! Like I mentioned earlier, we had to map out everything: the need, the demand, competitors, projected market value, and source analysis. Essentially, it was a real business speech because our business teacher actually helps people bring those ideas to life for a living. It was the real deal. After the presentations, we also got the opportunity to do some peer marking, giving feedback and constructive comments anonymously for everyone's project. That, in addition to the comments our teacher made, and the deliberations of the judges, summed up the entire grading process.

My group’s presentations were all insanely creative. There's a guy who presented a business that essentially would look for charities for a company to support; take the CSR of companies as a responsibility. Another idea was soundproof weightlifting pads, so that when the weights are dropped, they wouldn't damage the floor or make much noise. Someone came up with an idea of eco-friendly hair dye, there was a pet-translator pitch, and finally an underground library. They were just as creative as they sound, listening to the projects of the bright minds all around me was definitely very enriching.

The friends we made along the way…

Majority, if not all, of the people I encountered were pretty easygoing. I didn't go there with the agenda of networking, it was all very natural, so be encouraged that if you do go for an Immerse Education program, its unlikely that you will have much trouble making friends! I can confidently say that the close friends I made will be lifelong friendships, and even if that doesn't happen, I'm still really grateful for the people I got to meet. I was probably in the largest and most diverse friend group there; China, Thailand, Poland, UK, Spain, USA, Ukraine, and obviously me from Kenya. Definitely, because our nationalities are so diverse, it will be difficult for us to get together again, but hey, you never know, right?

Passing the baton to future applicants

You can figure things out on the way, so don’t tell yourself that It's too hard, or that you can't make it; It's not impossible at all! Additionally, for majority of the Immerse Education Competitions, such as the 2025 Essay Round 2 that I joined, there's nothing like being rejected from the program. Everyone gets different percentages of scholarship offers, and even if you are unable to go for the summer programs, the feedback you get from your application essay, from world-class institution professors, is also pretty valuable. You lose nothing by giving it a shot, so I’d encourage everyone to apply at least once in their lifetime. Just try!

Final note

The lessons I took home from the Immerse Education experience will definitely help me start my business in the future. But to be completely honest, It isn't necessarily about what we did in class that would really help me, it was the experience that made the most impact. Meeting new people from different backgrounds opens up your mind to so many possibilities for the future, even things you may have never dreamt of!