When Stephen Mason first arrived at Strathmore University from Liberia in 2018, excitement quickly gave way to uncertainty. Everything felt unfamiliar. The food was different. The accents were difficult to understand. Even classroom discussions became a struggle. Many evenings ended the same way: a phone call home to his mother, often accompanied by tears. Yet beneath the homesickness was a determination that refused to fade. “I didn’t understand what people were saying. I wasn’t used to the food. Everything felt different. The only way I survived academically was by going to YouTube after class and relearning everything,” Stephen recalls.
That resilience would become the defining thread of his journey. Today, Stephen is a fourth-year Bachelor of Business Information Technology (BBIT) student specializing in Networking, an aspiring network engineer, software developer, entrepreneur, and scholarship beneficiary whose ambitions extend far beyond earning a university degree. For him, education has never been an end in itself. It has always been a tool for solving problems.
His path, however, was anything but straightforward.
Stephen first encountered Strathmore through the University’s Mathematics Contest in Liberia. After excelling in the competition, he earned a fully funded place in the Diploma in Business Information Technology (DBIT) programme. It was an opportunity that opened a new world. But after completing the diploma, the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything. “We were informed that, going forward, the scholarship would only cover part of the costs. At that moment, I already knew I was out of the programme because I couldn’t afford the remaining amount.” he says.
Unable to finance the balance, Stephen returned to Liberia. For many students, that might have marked the end of the dream. Instead, he remained in constant communication with Strathmore’s Financial Aid Office, repeatedly requesting another opportunity. Partial scholarships, even those covering up to 90% were still beyond his family’s reach. Still, he never stopped asking. “I never really believed it was the end. I always felt I would get another chance, so I just kept pushing,” he says.
That chance came in 2022 when Strathmore returned to Liberia to organize another Mathematics Contest. Stephen volunteered to help with publicity and administering the examinations. During the visit, he met the Financial Aid team once again. They offered him what he had hoped for all along: a 100% scholarship funded through the Vice Chancellor’s Run for Scholarships; today known as the Strathmore Annual Run. The scholarship gave him the opportunity to return to Strathmore to pursue his degree, with accommodation support later provided by the University after changes to the Work-Study Programme. “I just wanted to cry,” Stephen remembers. “I had been asking for that opportunity for such a long time. I was just thankful that I could finally come back and complete the degree I had been trying so hard to pursue at Strathmore.”
The scholarship transformed more than his academic journey. It gave him access to opportunities that are shaping the future he envisions for himself and for Liberia.
While studying at Strathmore, Stephen secured a software development internship at iLabAfrica, where he worked on modernizing the Virtual Traffic Coach (VTC) project. For the first time, he experienced software development beyond personal projects, learning system architecture, teamwork, and how technology is built for real users. “If I had not been on this scholarship, I wouldn’t have been at Strathmore, and I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to intern at iLabAfrica,” he says. “Being on this scholarship really helped me.”
Outside the classroom, Stephen’s entrepreneurial mindset is equally remarkable. Together with friends, he is preparing to register a technology company back in Liberia. At the same time, he is developing solutions that address challenges he witnessed growing up. One of those ideas is LibAI, an artificial intelligence platform trained on Liberia’s school curriculum to help children access quality learning through their mobile phones. Another is Lib Land, a blockchain-based land registration system designed to reduce land fraud by creating permanent ownership records that cannot easily be manipulated. “I noticed that some of the things happening here are lacking back home,” Stephen explains. “I’m planning to implement them there.”
His vision extends even further. Before returning to Strathmore, Stephen taught Mathematics and Physics in Liberian secondary schools after earning a teaching certificate. Today, he hopes to pursue a master’s degree, become a Graduate Assistant, conduct research, and eventually teach at university level while continuing to build technological solutions for his country. “I want to make a difference through innovation and teaching. I would like to volunteer, teach people these skills, and contribute knowledge through research,” he says.
For him, the scholarship has become far more than financial support. It has created a ripple effect whose impact reaches classrooms, communities, and the future of an entire country. Every lesson learned at Strathmore, every internship opportunity, and every project he develops traces back to one opportunity someone else made possible.
That is why his message to participants of the Strathmore Run for Scholarships is deeply personal. “Please continue participating and if you can, bring your friends as well because these runs help so many students. At the end of the day, those students also go on to transform the lives of other people,” he says.
His story is a reminder that every scholarship extends far beyond a single student’s education. It creates innovators, researchers, teachers, and entrepreneurs whose influence reaches communities far beyond the university campus. Sometimes, the impact of one person choosing to run is measured not in kilometers completed, but in futures transformed.
“Because someone chose to run, I was able to get this scholarship. I was able to get an internship at iLabAfrica. I was able to come up with ideas to solve land ownership challenges through Lib Land. In the future, I’ll also be able to teach at a higher level.”
Let’s do this together again, #BecauseWeCare.
Sign up today here: https://run.strathmore.edu/
By Nekesa Teresa
