Komi Akoumany
Central High School

Komi Akoumany's slow, shy grin hints at the young man's modest character. He doesn't talk easily about himself. When asked about the next stage of his 19-year-old life, however, he beams and words jumble together as he tries to explain.
A new University of Maryland Incentive Awards Program scholar, Akoumany received a full ride to the university beginning this fall. In terms of distance and expectations, it is miles away from where his life was headed in his native Togo, West Africa. "It's unbelievable. I would never think about anything like this happening to me. It happens on TV," he says.