GAJ CONGRATULATES KEVIN ADUSEI…
WORCESTER — So many Americans these days are angrily obsessed with what they believe others are taking from them and their country.
Then there’s Kevin Adusei.
“I feel there’s more fulfillment in giving rather than taking,” the high-achieving and highly-popular senior at South High Community School said last week. “So throughout most of my life I have found ways to give.
“I think like, ‘I can’t give people money because I’m not rich. I can give you wisdom and knowledge from what I’ve experienced, but I can’t give you the secret to life.’ But I can give my time; I can give my strength and my resources. So if I have something to give I might as well give it.”
Adusei gives freely of his time, of which little is free.
This National Honor Society member with a “4.6-something” weighted grade-point average has a school schedule stocked with advanced placement classes. He has until May 1 to decide where he’ll further his education.
His choices: Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Georgetown, and Penn with Columbia and Yale also possibilities.
The 6-foot-1, 160-pound Adusei played soccer for the Colonels and is an accomplished hurdler who was recently named to the T&G Super Team in indoor track.
He also plays trumpet in the school marching band, is a member of the Tri-M Music Honor Society and sings in the choir at the Church of Pentecost-Worcester Central Assembly.
“I do a lot of stuff with my church,” said Adusei, who turned 18 on Thursday but is mature beyond his years. “I think it’s the place where a lot of my inspiration comes from.”
That inspiration is best put to use serving others, especially in the city Adusei has called home since second grade after spending the first six or so years of his life moving from New York to Ohio to Ghana.
“I’m a person who enjoys community service a lot,” Adusei said with a smile, something he does frequently, along with laughing.
Adusei is currently volunteering with the Worcester Connections Family Research Center, which strives to improve access to local services in the city, and as a graphic designer for the New Heights Educational Group, an Ohio-based nonprofit that works to promote literacy.
Adusei is currently volunteering with the Worcester Connections Family Research Center, which strives to improve access to local services in the city, and as a graphic designer for the New Heights Educational Group, an Ohio-based nonprofit that works to promote literacy.
Adusei previously spent two summers as a counselor for Tenacity, a youth tennis and reading program in Worcester. That he lacked experience playing tennis was beside the point.
“I wasn’t really teaching kids to play tennis, I was more like a problem-solver,” Adusei said. “I enjoy hanging out with little kids, so I would just have fun with the kids and teach any lessons I could along the way.”
In a few months, Adusei will leave for Cambridge, Providence, Philadelphia, or wherever he elects to study. But his efforts to help the city that has helped him in so many ways continue.
So, after toying with the idea since around Christmas, Adusei finally launched the Easter Community Campaign last month. The goal is to encourage and inspire others to help others in gratitude of the Easter holiday.
“I was thinking, ‘Easter is supposed to be the time where we’re celebrating this selfless sacrifice that Christ made on the cross, so what sacrifices are we making on our part?’ ” Adusei said. “Shouldn’t Easter be a time where we exemplify that and do something for our world at the same time?”
Since this is a startup operation, Adusei has focused on reaching out to churches in Worcester and their large congregations to make them aware of his campaign. Certainly, though, he would be elated if anyone, be they in Worcester, Webster, Westminster, or West Brookfield, joined in.
The idea is simple. Organize and/or participate in a community service activity during the month of April and then let the Easter Community Campaign know with video or photos or text via Facebook, Twitter or email in the hope that others will be motivated to serve their community as well.
“It’s literally that simple,” Adusei said. “Anybody who sees this campaign might say, ‘Yeah, I want to try to find something to do in April,’ and then go out and do it.”
On Saturday, the Church of Pentecost and the International Central Gospel Church, also in Worcester, planned to go out and take part in the Regional Environmental Council for Worcester’s cleanup in celebration of Earth Day.
Adusei is getting help from fellow South students Afia Abrafi, Kwasi Kwakwa, Princilla Minkah, and Katie Vanesse. Beverly Bremang, a 2016 South graduate, designed the campaign poster.
“I think if you ever want to do something and you think you can do it by yourself you’re probably not dreaming big enough, so I started working with different people,” Adusei said.
Adusei is optimistic and enthusiastic rather than angry and suspicious. He favors giving to taking, inspiring others to do the same in his small slice of America.
