“Jesus is alive.”
– Jeffrey Asala, delivering PRESEC – Legon’s message at the NSMQ 2009 Final.
On 24th June 2009, Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary School – Legon set a record that has yet to be broken at the National Science & Maths Quiz. They became the first school ever to successfully defend their title as National Champions. More impressively, they secured a fifth NSMQ Championship Title by besting city-rivals: Achimota School in the Grand Finale. The gentlemen who made history for PRESEC were Jeffrey Asala, Frank Adu-Poku and Prosper Dzidzienyo.
A decade later, the NSMQ Ghana team will be catching up with Jeffrey Asala – one of the stars of the 2009 edition, whose impressive run in the Final, especially in the fifth round where he answered three out of the four riddles correctly – left an indelible mark on the programme.
Life after the NSMQ
After helping his school win their fifth NSMQ Title, Jeffrey enrolled at the United World College – Red Cross Nordic from 2009 to 2011. The UWC Scholars Programme is described as “committed to building cross-cultural understanding…” with a selection of exceptional young people who have graduated from a UWC school and then matriculated at selected U.S. colleges or universities.
With his sights set on greatness, it was no surprise when Jeffrey continued his education at one of the foremost universities in the world – Princeton University, New Jersey (USA), graduating with a BSc in Electrical Engineering. When asked why he chose Princeton, Jeffrey responded that he liked to think of it as “I didn’t choose Princeton, Princeton chose me.”
Career & Personal Life
Currently, Jeffrey works at Google, building products that help customers connect to service providers through Google. He’s also part of the Smartix Education team which is led by his fellow NSMQ teammate, Prosper Dzidzienyo. Smartix aims to make learning fun and easy by making teaching aids cheap and readily available and to raise a generation of creative thinkers and innovative leaders who can make lasting and positive changes in the world.
Recently, in August 2020, Jeffrey started the next chapter of his life with an intimate wedding ceremony which cemented a love built on his Christian foundation. As a staunch Christian, Jeffrey believes God has been so good and faithful in his life and he can’t wait to see what is in store for the future!
Don’t forget to tune in to the #NSMQLiveChat session featuring Jeffrey on Saturday 29th August, 2020 via Facebook.
