Class of 1996 Profile: Victor Acquaah-Harrison

As part of the celebration of the 15th anniversary of the YTI Class of 1996, YTI alumni are interviewing each other, discovering and recording what is happening in the lives of our YTI family today. If you are a member of the class of 1996, and would like to participate in this project, contact Sara Toering at sjtoering@gmail.com

Victor is interviewed here by Beth Kormanik Hubbuch:

Since graduating from American University, Victor has worked in the financial services sector, first in London, then in New York and Chicago. He earned an MBA from the University of Wisconsin and recently started a leadership program with GE Capital in Columbia, Missouri. Victor plays bass guitar and has accompanied several church choirs. It’s a way to practice his craft but also serve the church. He would have attended the the YTI reunion this summer but it coincided with a surprise 70th birthday party for his father.

YTI's instilled in Victor a curiosity about other religions. His father has been a United Methodist minister for 42 years, and the Methodist tradition, as his parents learned in Ghana and passed onto him, was grounded in British imperialism. “Growing up,” he said, “I felt like if someone did something out of set boundary lines it meant they weren't serious about their Christianity.” Those beliefs have changed.

“When you grow up in that environment, you are pretty much given one thing and that's it," he said. "You never have an opportunity to experience anything else. It’s like you almost walk around with a puffy chest: ‘This is what I believe in and what I know.’ And then you meet other folks with other beliefs, and it makes you a little more open... Everyone else may not worship the same way I do, but it's like the same template. It's the same underlying factors and desires to lead to a better life.”

For awhile, Victor wasn’t leading that better life. The years he spent in New York were challenging socially and career-wise. He realized he had to change his attitude and his surroundings.

“You can't make excuses,” he said. “Now the thing I'm wrestling with is trying to be on point and be the best I can as Victor. In that whole process, when I think of how I got here, it definitely wasn't on my own. There's a higher power out there that has watched me and seen me struggle, and things have changed completely now. You have to really sit back and think about things. Is this situation really hell, or is it just a setback and I have to think through it and come up with a different way to address it? It's more of a personal thing that I have to get out of my own way. I've seen the changes that can be made if you hang in there. I feel like I have a positive attitude. There's a lot of stuff out there that sucks, but there's plenty out there that's good and great. For the past few years, I've been able to change my thought process and think about the things that are good and stop trying to change things you have no power over.”