EDITOR’S NOTE: This story is featured in the Fall 2025 edition of The Tartan magazine. Read more from The Tartan at alma.edu/tartan.
Alma College senior Akwasi Asare rises above pain in pursuit of a degree.
When Akwasi Asare, a neuroscience major and a senior at Alma College, left his small village in Ghana to study in rural Michigan, he brought with him a quiet strength shaped by hardship, hope, and the determination to change his future. At 28, Asare is older than most of his classmates, but his path to Alma was anything but ordinary.
Asare grew up in Kumasi, a village far from Ghana’s capital of Accra. Both Asare’s father and brother passed away while he was still young. After high school, his career options were dangerous and limited — mining or farming.
“Mining is illegal and deadly,” he said. “People die often when the pits collapse, and sometimes the army comes after us. I wanted knowledge. I wanted something more.”
Asare was accepted to 12 colleges in the United States and chose Alma for its scholarships, small class sizes, and peaceful environment: “I like quiet places. Alma felt like home.”
His commitment was relentless. He scored a perfect 800 on the math section of the SAT, despite studying in a country where internet access and academic resources were limited.
Longtime faculty members like Jeff Turk and Laura von Wallmenich have been instrumental in helping him navigate the challenges of being an international student. He also credits Dining Services staff like Marsha Miller and Micah Braman with creating a positive environment to work his on-campus job in Hamilton Commons. Thomas Haverbush, a longtime friend of the college, has helped Asare in numerous ways.
“Professors here care about your life, not just your grades. Laura is like a mom to me,” Asare said. “I love going to work in the dining center, too. Even if another job paid more, I wouldn’t leave.”
Though he finds it hard to relate to American students’ conversations — “We see the world differently” — Asare’s focus remains on his studies. He chose neuroscience after learning that his younger brother died of medulloblastoma, a type of brain cancer.
“At the time, I didn’t understand what was happening. Now I want to study the brain and help find a cure. If I can help even one person avoid what my brother went through, it will be worth it,” he said.
His favorite classes include psychopharmacology and psychopathology, where he learns about the brain and mental illness. He dreams of going to medical school in the U.S. and becoming a neurosurgeon.
Would he choose Alma again?
“Even if I had the chance to go to Harvard, I’d stay here,” he said. “Alma is on top of my world right now.”
