Brilliant Former Ketasco Student Gains Admission into MIT in US; Gets Scholarship Worth $82K

• Justine Akorfa Dagadu, an alumna of Keta Senior High School (Ketasco), has gained admission into the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US
• She obtained a full scholarship worth $82,000 a year for four years to study a joint programme in Bioengineering and International Development
• Dagadu lived most of her life in Agbogbloshie, a deprived community in Accra, but defeated the odds to achieve her academic dreams
• Her trailblazing achievement as the first in her community to gain admittance into MIT has garnered an outpour of congratulatory remarks online

A former student of Keta Senior High School (Ketasco), Justine Akorfa Dagadu, has gained admission into the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US.

The native of Kedzi in the Volta Region lived most of her life in Agbogbloshie, a deprived community in Accra, where she lacked the basics of a ''serene environment with efficient systems and facilities''.

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Triumphing the odds to achieve her goals

Despite the challenges, she completed her alma mater in 2019, where she studied General Science and finished in the top one percent of her class.

Dagadu, the daughter of a retired driver and a mom who sells local foods to supplement their income faced a financial hurdle in her quest to achieve higher education.

Overcoming the financial setback

''Things began to turn in my favour, however, when I got accepted into the Young Achievers Foundation Ghana (YAF Ghana) Scholars Program in 2021,'' she said.

The resilient trailblazer has become the first in her community to pursue not just an undergraduate degree but one at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the USA on a full scholarship worth $82,000 a year for four years.

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''I view this as an avenue of new beginnings, and a chance for unprecedented growth, not just for me, but for every other child in my community and beyond,'' she said.

Dagadu plans to pursue a joint concentration in Bioengineering and International Development.

After graduating, she hopes to give children in communities like Agbogbloshie a better fighting chance in life.

Dagadu's achievement has sparked an outpour of congratulatory messages on social media. Read some of the comments below the Facebook post of Ben Dotsei Malor:

Peter Nana Kofi Asiedu said:

This is the girl whose mathematics script I always used as a marking scheme. Brilliant chap. Go higher Akorfah Dagadu.

Sangu Delle shared:

Senior bro - please connect me to her, I’ll be in Boston soon and would love to take her out for lunch and connect her to mentors at MIT and Harvard!

Peter Garang Ngor Ayok commented:

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Congratulations to her.

Isaac C. Yeah said:

This is a must-read for youths in our deprived West Point Community in Liberia..That with determination anything is possible.

Maame Rama Quarshie posted:

Lukeman Quarshie, be inspired by this and work towards it. You can make it too.

Afua Adoboe commented:

Congratulations to this brilliant and beautiful Ewe girl for her inspiring story.

Francisca Lamini Gets Admission Into Harvard Medical School

In a similar story, YEN.com.gh reported that Keta 2021 NSMQ female Fransisca Lamini has been given a fully-funded scholarship to study at Harvard Medical School after passing her WASSCE with flying colours.

This great news was revealed by the American Chamber Of Commerce In Ghana on its official Facebook page.

Apparently, all the necessary documents were acquired for the national heroine before she leaves the shores of Ghana to pursue her medical career.

Source: YEN.com.gh