Link to my Charity Foundation: goodgodcharityfoundation.org

IMAGINE! For a moment, sitting across from an 8-year-old child who desperately tries to convey their thoughts but is caught in a relentless battle with words that refuse to flow.

“I want to spit it out before it kills me. But someone is holding my mouth shut, forcing it down with warm milk like I’m Santa choking on dry cookie truth.”

Every conversation became a battle against time, a battle I often lost. I withdrew into a shell, avoiding every conversation and pleading mere words for mercy.

Let my words flow!!!

Shhhhhhhh…Don’t let them hear you.

My name is Theophilus Mensah and I was born with a stammer. Growing up in Ghana, I learned that stammering was a societal stigma. People believe that laughing at a child who stammers could somehow prevent the condition from persisting into adulthood. They saw it as something to be mocked away, rather than understood. As a child, that laughter stung more than the disorder itself. I felt like my voice wasn’t meant to be heard not because I had nothing to say, but because the words didn’t always come easily.

I chose Grambling State University the moment I saw their motto: “Where Everybody Is Somebody.”

Something in me said, they’ll see me for who I am and value what makes me unique. And they truly have.

At Grambling, I’m not just a number or a transcript. I’m a double major in Business Management and Computer Information Systems, holding a 4.0 GPA and working a campus job to support myself as an international student. More than that, I’m heard by my professors, my peers, and even the president of the university.

Last semester, I noticed a flaw in the student internship policy. It unintentionally blocked students from gaining valuable professional experience. Rather than complain, I proposed a change. And to my surprise, President Martin Lemelle invited me to a private conversation. He asked questions, listened deeply, and added me to a committee of Deans and Academic heads to revise the policy.

This is what HBCUs and HBCU Connect does. They are not just preparing me academically but they amplify my voice, invest in my growth, and affirm my leadership.

Grambling didn’t “fix” my stammer but it celebrated. It’s part of the story that makes me who I am: a young entrepreneur with 5 years of experience, a nonprofit founder, and a child advocate who’s impacted over 720 children through health and education efforts.

At Grambling, I’ve been given leadership opportunities, policy-making influence, and academic freedom to grow in ways that directly prepare me for the real world. I’ve gained access to networks, mentorship, and a community that invests in my vision.
In the long term, Grambling will help me to thrive in the intersection of business strategy and tech to solve world business problems, while scaling my nonprofit to reach more underserved children globally. And I know I will get there because my HBCU is preparing me, holistically, to not just survive the world, but to transform it.

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