From the trenches of toil back home, a Ghanaian student is living the life of Albert Einstein at the Ohio State University by scoring beyond 3.8 Grade Point Average (GPA) or higher given at the University.

Diana Maame Agyeiwaa Agyei is a Ghanaian and currently studying Master’s of Arts (MA) in Communication and Development at the Ohio State University, and in respect of the higher grade that she has obtained, the University has honoured her accordingly on April 15, 2022.

Maame Agyeiwaa or AJ as she is affectionately called, although maybe accorded one of the brilliant students on campus, has more to share beyond the lecture hall, which would serve as an encouragement to many others who due to life circumstances may find themselves at the bottom of the ladder, and without any hope in sight.

Ageiwaa hails from Atiwa, a small community in the Eastern region of Ghana, where most of the indigenes are peasant farmers and cannot boost of any best infrastructure -schools, roads, hospitals, and other social amenities.

These infrastructure challenges were not the only hindrance to AJ’s career but a gas explosion incident has changed her life ever since 2009.

The incident left her hospitalised for about six months at the Plastic and Burns Centre of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), receive treatment.

Although it has been over a decade since the incident occurred at her first workplace, Las Palmas Restaurant, the burns had left multiple scars on her body, capable of affecting her self-esteem. But as a warrior, she is putting up a good fight in order not to be left out in the cold in the scheme of life.

From the hospital bed, AJ enrolled in a journalism school, the Africa University College of Communication (AUCC), and acquired her 1st degree with a Second Class Upper honours.

While in her third year at the AUCC pursuing her first degree, she joined one of Ghana’s prestigious newspapers, The Chronicle, where she specialized in court reporting.

Maame Ageiwaa after years in the newsroom, sojourned to the United States, in pursuit of her Master’s degree, a seven years interval between her first degree.

One motor that drives AJ to climb up and never allows the fire accident or the long period that she stayed off academia to intimidate her is: “Struggling is normal. It is part of academic work and I’m not ashamed or afraid to ask for help.”