An Interview with Ian Agyekum: Class of '24

Ian Agyekum, Class of ‘24, is admired by his friends for his hard-working nature and his commitment to community strength. I met Ian this year in my math class, and by chance, we sat together and started talking. Months later, he’s one of the people I go to first for anything. 

Ian is the secretary of Shrewsbury High School’s Black History Committee. He’s also a member of HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America), Asian Culture Club, and Astronomy Club. He’s run track since ninth grade and made the varsity team last year. His involvement in the Black History Committee has been the most time-consuming of his activities at school. Planning for February’s Black History Assembly began in September, and Ian emphasized that incorporating the right balance of performances and research was a difficult task. In the end, he’s very proud of how everything turned out. “Our mission in Black History is to spread awareness. Racism is still out there; that’s obviously very apparent within society. As an affinity group at our school, SHS, we want to do our part in spreading awareness to the student body so they can get to know the other cultures that are out there… they can notice similarities and connections or differences, and it can bring them together as one big community; a community where no one is looking down on one another.”

Outside of school, Ian manages the student-run nonprofit Light a Brighter Light. Members of Light a Brighter Light engage in many different local service projects, including serving food at soup kitchens and cleaning public parks. “In the first week of November, I held a bake sale where we raised 600 dollars for the Worcester Food Bank.” Ian also leads a team for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and volunteers at his church, where he leads prayer and worship and watches over young kids. 

In terms of aspirations, Ian has “always been interested in the sciences. I would see science videos online, and I would always ask my mom to buy these science kits so I could tinker with them.” When Ian was a kid, he discovered a term that would change the course of his life: third-world country. “I looked into that, and I wanted to know more about it, because my home country, Ghana, kept being called a third-world country.” The term “third-world country” is used to classify a country as poor or developing. In terms of Ghana, most rural areas have limited access to healthcare. “After seeing how Ghana is plagued with many diseases, and there’s limited access to healthcare, [that] really started something within me. I really wanted to do something to help the people of my country.” His dream is to become a physician—either an ophthalmologist or an anesthesiologist. “I would like to create an NGO, like Mercy Ship or Doctors Without Orders. Not only going to Ghana, but other rural places around the world and giving our services for free to those with limited access to healthcare.” Ian has participated in medical programs at Tufts and UMass, where he primarily worked in labs. “They gave me great insight into the medical field… and allowed me to network with other people.”

Despite his many involvements, Ian still finds time for fun. He loves playing soccer and basketball with his neighborhood friends and goes to the gym regularly. On weekends, Ian notes an interest in playing video games with friends, from Minecraft to Fortnite, and so on.  

To end Ian's interview, I decided to hit him with one of our more challenging questions: why do you come to school every day? Most people I’ve interviewed have taken some time before answering this question. However, Ian was able to answer quickly. “I go to school to get an education so I can go to college. After [my] undergraduate, I’ll go to med school and become a doctor. I want to learn as much as I can so I can become very successful in life and use that success to help others”.

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Thank you so much for reading! If you would like to help Ian and his team raise money to fund the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, donations can be made on the website below: https://events.lls.org/ma/svoyboston24/iagyekum

Any amount is appreciated!