In February 2024, first-year international student Kelly Lotsu-Morgan received news that changed the trajectory of his life.
The Ghanaian native was awarded the full-tuition St. Newman Scholarship to Newman University in Wichita, Kansas. He and his family were beyond thrilled at the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him to study in the United States.
It was a typo that landed him in the middle of the country rather than another U.S. school a family friend had recommended.
When Lotsu-Morgan was applying to colleges in the U.S., the family friend, whom he lovingly calls his uncle, suggested during a phone call that Lotsu-Morgan apply to a school in Pennsylvania: Neumann University.
“I typed what any normal person would search when they hear that name, so I typed ‘N-E-W-M-A-N’ University,” Lotsu-Morgan said.
In his Google search of Newman University, Lotsu-Morgan viewed aspects like the student-to-faculty ratio and school demographics, which piqued his interest.
“After I applied, I kept receiving emails,” Lotsu-Morgan said. “I eventually agreed to apply for the St. Newman scholarship that I was eligible for. I did my virtual interview, but didn’t want to get my hopes up, especially knowing they only give it to five people a year. Then I checked my email in late February to see the scholarship results, and saw ‘Full-tuition Honors Program’ in the subject line.”
It wasn’t until Lotsu-Morgan called to share the news with his uncle, who lives in the U.S., that he made a shocking discovery.
“I call my uncle and he says, ‘That’s amazing!’ Then he asks, ‘Can you check how many minutes away (the university) is from the house?’ So I check, and then I’m seeing it’s 1,000-something miles away,” he said.
At first, Lotsu-Morgan’s uncle insisted he couldn’t attend Newman University. But Lotsu-Morgan had overcome too many obstacles to give up his dream of studying in the U.S.
God’s trials, gifts in disguise
Lotsu-Morgan was only 11 years old when his father, a Christian pastor, died due to health-related complications.
“Things got very difficult from there,” Lotsu-Morgan explained. “It was just me, my sisters, my brother and my mother. My dad had lots of friends who were very good people. One of them is a bishop in Ghana who owned a British curriculum school, and he offered all of us full-ride scholarships to study there. That was a big breakthrough for me, and we all went to that school until 2020.”
Lotsu-Morgan earned his International General Certificate of Secondary Education, the equivalent of a U.S. high school diploma, and then started using YouTube and Udemy, an online learning and teaching marketplace, to learn how to code.
“I learned how to use Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator and started designing graphics to make some money,” he said. “Harvard University also makes their first semester of computer science free to the general public, so I took that for 13 weeks and it went well. That’s really when I got into computer science.”
His ultimate goal as a present-day computer science major is to create a telehealth software that “will have a large database of medically proven facts that can help people with illnesses identify their woes while at home,” he said. Pushed by his father’s death, Lotsu-Morgan hopes this software will make seeking medical advice and treatment more accessible to people who previously could not receive care.
He was determined an education in the U.S. was the next step to bringing his life’s calling to fruition.
Clearing the final hurdle: Visa approval
When Lotsu-Morgan showed up on Aug. 14 at the U.S. Embassy in Accra, Ghana, to apply for his Visa, he was “really nervous.”
“I had already been denied once and it was crushing,” he said.
As a high school graduate, Lotsu-Morgan worked several jobs in Ghana. He helped his mother sell books, taught information and communication technology to middle school students for three months, then attended SAT school to prepare for the test. When he received a high score on his SAT, he started teaching math tutorials to other SAT-prep students. While teaching, he applied to colleges in the U.S.
“I got into a number of schools, but the one I really loved was Stevens Institute of Technology. So I did everything I could to prepare. Then I paid my service fee and went to my Visa interview. But then I got denied. That was one of the worst moments of my life.”
He shared his story with his Ghanaian students as a way to motivate them, but also to “show them it’s possible to get everything you need and still get denied a Visa,” he said.
“I told them to measure their expectations. That’s when I was connected with one of my students’ uncles, the family friend who is in Pennsylvania. He encouraged me to try one more time, and offered to pay the SEVIS fee, visa fee, application fee, etc. which was a little over $1,000, as well as pay for the plane tickets and live with him while I go to school.”
Thanks to this generous and persistent uncle, Lotsu-Morgan landed back in line for a second attempt at attaining his Visa.
The woman in the U.S. Embassy asked Lotsu-Morgan to tell her about his studies, the scholarship he received and how he planned to fund his education.
“After I talked to her, she said the golden words, ‘Your visa is approved,’“ Lotsu-Morgan said. “I couldn’t contain it. Everyone in that long line could tell that I was the happiest man in the world.”
Grateful for a second chance
Now, at the end of his first semester at Newman, Lotsu-Morgan can’t help but pinch himself from time to time as he walks across campus. Newman’s faith roots and highly recommended professors drew him in, and aspects like Honors Program, chorale, STEM Club and his on-campus jobs give him a built-in sense of community.
“My professors are very helpful and open,” he said. “I also work in the Mabee Dining Center and Student Success Center and my co-workers are amazing. A few of them even attended my fall concert.”
All of this became Lotsu-Morgan’s reality thanks, in part, to a simple miscommunication. Now, he’s on his way to achieving a dream that would make his family and late father proud.
“If I had never made the mistake I did in typing ‘Newman,’ I probably wouldn’t be in the United States right now,” he said. “I am just so happy because I get a second chance.”
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