Prepared for perseverance

NCAA Champion Magazine Fall 2012 Issue

By Greg Johnson

Godfred Mbengam truly believes anything is possible in life.

He’s overcome hardships of his mother and great-grandmother dying while he was young. He’s survived living in orphanages with his six siblings in his native Cameroon, and he became an American citizen before his 20th birthday.

The latter accomplishment came when he and his six brothers and sisters were adopted by an aunt living in Massachusetts.

Mbengam (pronounced MEN-BEEN-GAMM) arrived in the U.S. just in time to start seventh grade. Despite not knowing any English, he developed into a top student at Randolph (Mass.) High School and is currently a sophomore at Massachusetts Maritime, where he competes on the cross country and outdoor track and field teams.

Mbengam, a marine engineering major, is still amazed by the changes in his life, especially becoming an American citizen. During his swearing-in ceremony in September 2011 in Boston, Mbengam and the other new citizens (about 300 people from 80 countries) recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

"When I was in high school, I had to say those words,” Mbengam said. “But when you say it for the first time as an American, there is something really special about it. I couldn’t believe I was doing it. It felt so good.”

Passing the citizenship test was another day that stands out for Mbengam. Friends helped him study American history to help him prepare for the examination that included written and multiple-choice questions. There was also an in-person interview where he answered five more inquiries.

“My friends in school would help me study and explain things that maybe I didn’t understand so clearly,” Mbengam said.  “My friends would quiz me and ask all kinds of questions. When I took the test, I felt prepared and ready.”

Mbengam and his siblings have taken advantage of their good fortune and many of them are in college. He has a brother and sister at Springfield College, a sister who is a graduate of Massachusetts-Boston and another sister still enrolled at the school. He also has a brother that has graduated from a technical vocational school and who is now exploring the possibility of earning a postgraduate degree.

When it came time for Mbengam to choose a university, he followed a recommendation from one of his high school teachers.

Mbengam, who played soccer and ran the 400 meters in track, was accepted at Massachusetts Maritime, and he also wanted to continue playing athletics. He tried out for the soccer team but didn’t make the roster. A few days before the cross country team began the season he asked coach Chris Ryan if he could join the squad.

“He had never run more than a 400-meter race in his life,” Ryan said. “I wanted to make sure he understood that cross country races were five miles.”

The first training run was memorable for the wrong reasons.

“We kept running and I thought, ‘Whoa!’ ” Mbengam said. “I didn’t think it would be that tough. I was training for soccer, so I was not ready for all the distance. We must have run for hours.”

Mbengam, who runs the 400 and the 1,600-meter relay in the spring, quickly adapted to his new sport. He became one of the top runners on the team and qualified for the NCAA Division III regionals as a freshman.

It isn’t a surprising result after all he’s been through in life.

“My background helps, because I believe I will always do my best,” said Mbengam, who would like to make a career doing humanitarian work in Africa. “People in America don’t realize how good we have it here. If you go to other countries and see how people live, you appreciate living here more.”