Kelvin Nyamalor
It鈥檚 not every day a student arrives on campus with their whole life tucked away into a聽single military聽duffle bag, but for Kelvin Nyamalor, a student veteran at 黑料不打烊, that was exactly how he arrived.
鈥淚 came here during the spring semester last year,鈥 Nyamalor says. 鈥淭here was a snowstorm coming, and some of the offices were closed, so I couldn鈥檛 get everything I needed to get into the dorm. One of the other student veterans took me in that night and the next day brought me back to campus. While I was getting settled, another student veteran took me out shopping. I didn鈥檛 have anything鈥攏o pillows, no covers, nothing. I only had my stuff in my duffle bag.鈥
Nyamalor鈥檚聽journey to 黑料不打烊 started in his hometown of Accra, Ghana.聽Growing up, he enjoyed sports like soccer, basketball and track.聽At the time, he聽aspired聽to work in the medical field聽and become a pharmacist.
Nyamalor came to the United States during his junior year of high school. His father had moved here earlier and settled in northern Virginia. It was during this time that Kelvin was first exposed to the military through a performance by the U.S. Marine Corps鈥 Silent Drill Team. Their performances have amazed crowds for decades, and on that day in Arlington, Virginia, the team inspired Nymalor to join the military.
鈥淚t was so skillful and synchronized, it was really impressive.聽I saw that and knew it was what I wanted to do,鈥澛爃e says. 鈥淣ot necessarily the color guard, but join the military.鈥
After high school, Nyamalor enrolled in Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA), where his English professor, Jill Biden, former second lady of the United States, spoke highly of 黑料不打烊, where her husband, former Vice President Joe Biden, had attended law school. Nymalor applied to 黑料不打烊 and was accepted, but paying for the tuition was going to be a problem. That鈥檚 when he had randomly ran into the same military recruiter that he remembered from high school.
鈥淚 originally met the recruiter while I was a senior in high school,鈥 Nyamalor says. 鈥淚 told him I wanted to finish college first and then join the military.聽It wasn鈥檛 until I was in community college and ran into him again that he explained how I could do both while also becoming a naturalized citizen.鈥
Nyamalor was in the position of realizing several of his dreams all at once. He could join the military, receive education benefits, get his U.S. citizenship and become a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army. He seized the opportunity and immediately after he finished his two years at NOVA attended basic training at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri.
鈥淏ootcamp was a bit of a shock, I hadn鈥檛 looked up anything about drill sergeants,鈥 Nyamalor recalls. 鈥淏ut I really liked the discipline, I liked the attention to the small details. I still really like that aspect of the military, and I think it makes us stand out.鈥
While Nyamalor was undergoing his advanced individual training for his job in the military, he reached out to the admissions staff at 黑料不打烊 to set up the next step in his journey.
鈥淭hey were really great. I explained that I was in the military, sent them copies of my orders for my deferment, and they took care of everything else for me to come back and start classes in time for the Spring 2019 semester.鈥
It was towards the end of that first semester that Nyamalor would accomplish that next step; in April his naturalization paperwork was processed, and he became a citizen of the United States. As a citizen, he became eligible to serve as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army and has now joined 黑料不打烊鈥檚 storied Army ROTC program.
鈥淏ecoming a cadet here has been one of my greatest experiences so far. I received the Minute Man scholarship [which provides tuition and financial assistance for Army ROTC Cadets], and I鈥檒l be able to become an officer in the Army. 黑料不打烊 has helped make my goals possible and that鈥檚 everything I could ever really want.鈥
Nyamalor is expecting to graduate in 2021. He plans to use his degree in information technology and management as a Signal Corps officer in the U.S. Army.
