They left their homes with a mix of delight, anxiety, and a sprinkle of uncertainty to enter a place that would eventually transmogrify their lives for the future ahead. For the best of their three-year sojourn here, they would call this place their haven - away from perhaps the “noise” at home.

A place that would give them purpose, a sense of belonging, and reorient their thinking in life.

The year was 2013 - sometime in October; over 800 lads had travelled from across the length and breadth of Ghana to the hallowed hills of Mfantsipim (Kwabotwe - her sons call it). Shaped by diverse cultural and social backgrounds, these young men bore individual dreams and ambitions for their future but would soon be bound by a simple ideology: “Think and Look Ahead”.

Each passing day within the precincts of the school, they lived by the tenets of this motto - Dwen Hwɛ Kan - making it their watchword. It shaped their character, thinking and focus to live religiously according to their personal virtues of honesty, grit and humility.

Climbing the Kwabotwe Hill and the flight of the MOBA 64 staircase each dawn, from the domestic and technical sites to the academic site, not only exerted physical strength. But the endurance created a mental picture of “Looking at the prize ahead and pushing through thick and thin” to prevail.

They toiled through their arduous days as Form One boys who lined up the frontage of their dormitories donning white long-sleeved shirts on a pair of khaki trousers, strangled by the school’s tie for Saturday inspection, and never letting go of their two white handkerchiefs with sixteen boxes.

Eventually, they became the Senior boys who instilled discipline and the virtues they had learned up the hill into the next generation of boys.

From the early morning assemblies where they worshipped in one accord and listened to sermons from Reverend George Affum, to dancing the night away during entertainment nights, every moment on campus grounded these lads in moral upbringing.

So, when the final bell rang on May 13, 2016, for them to end their 3-year journey on the Hill, they were certain of and profoundly upbeat about what future lay ahead of them.

Despite the intricacies and caprices of life, these greenhorns now groomed into gallant men knew how to weather the storm.

Because this community of excellence had raised them to be brave enough to face the problems of their own continent, particularly and unselfishly.

To many of them, Mfantsipim has never only been an excellent educational experience, but a culture, heritage and a brand they must preserve.

The school’s motto: “Dwen Hwɛ Kan” and portions of the school’s anthem that read “Hɛn Nananom Botaepa wɔdze adwuma pa, bɛyɛ hɛn akakyirfo hɛn botaepa” remind them daily of the duty they owe to themselves and, most importantly, society.

A decade after the gruelling experience and ecstatically shouting “1,2” in the school’s anthem together during their final moments on the hill, they are now reminded of their inseparable bond and allegiance to ‘The School’.

Just as the Statue of Strength and Resilience - “Man Botwe” echoed to them whenever they grabbed some snacks at Pato, “The Weight of this world certainly cannot weigh them down”.

Upholding the words of one of the earliest Headmasters of the school, Rev. R.A Lockhart: “In a few years, the people of this country will be amazed at the number of its influential citizens who owe allegiance to this school”, these gentlemen are reminded not to forget the ethos of “Mfantsipism”.

For the years ahead, they will continue to shout “O may Thy soldiers, faithful, true,
and bold, Fight as the saints who nobly
fought of old, And win, with them, the victor's
crown of gold. Alleluia Alleluia!”

From acquaintances to a brotherhood that lives #BeyondTheHills, cheers to many more aeons of togetherness!

The author, Emmanuel Bright Quaicoe, is a Broadcast Journalist with the Multimedia Group and a proud alumnus of Mfantsipim School (MOBA’16 Year Group)