AK HamiltonCirculation Manager

Seated in an Algebra 2 classroom,teacher Musa Manneh reflected onhis life journey. There were graphs

drawn in magic marker by his sophomorestudents, who sit at his elbows. There wasa satchel filled with papers to grade in anearby chair.

“America is thegreatest place in theworld,” Manneh said.

He told of his per-sonal journey: a drastic move to theUnited States of America, a green cardand possibly a return to where he callshome.Before moving to America, Manneh lived

in the city of Serrekunda, Gambia.Gambia is a small country on the north-

western coast of Africa. Manneh playedsoccer for his country’s national team.He was living the dream of youngsters

across his country. However, he was a fewyears behind the typical national teamplayer. Unlike his peers, he chose to put

his education first and graduate highschool before playing on the professionallevel.

“When I was younger, most of myfriends didn’t know me as anything butthe soccer guy. Few around me realizedmy intensity with academics,” Mannehsaid.

Manneh is notorious for his stories of

academic commitment. He tells of how, inhigh school, he would hold his feet in icewater to stay awake into the early morn-ing hours to study for a test.

Manneh’s goals were always centeredaround a map stationed in his room: theUnited States of America.Growing up, he continuously dreamt of

America where the streets were made ofgold, or so he and his friends were led tobelieve from the hip-hop videos theywatched.

“Man, when I was landing in Georgia,

and I looked down, I was so disappointed[to see asphalt roads rather than gold],”Manneh said when describing what it waslike seeing America for the first time.

Manneh played Division One Soccer atAlabama A&M. Manneh said he may havegone to medical school if he had beengiven the opportunity and resources, .“I would have breezed through medical

school. Notbecause Iam better orsmarter than

anyone, but because of that work ethic Ihave had instilled since high school,” Man-neh said.On the 16-year road to his green card,

Manneh was not initially required by theUS federal government to focus on hisresidency; he was able to maintain astrong focus on his education.Once he graduated college, the US gov-

ernment gave him a one-year work permitto get a job and an employer to sponsorhim before forcing him to get his workvisa. Crockett County High School was

the first school to offer Manneh a teachingposition. He also coached soccer there,which is similar to his current position atthis school.Long before he was at the high school,

he struggled to understand his classmatesat Alabama A&M. When Manneh was firstintroduced to the slang of Alabama, he

was dumbfounded.In college, Manneh would hear the term

“finna” or “fixing to”, slang for “going to”or “about to”, that is used in everyday lan-guage in the southeastern United Statesand would be stumped until he lateradapted to the language.

He still plays on cultural miscommuni-cations like this when students ask him torepeat himself for lack of understanding.Now working as a teacher, Manneh and

his students tend to joke about his wordpronunciation and their difficulty under-standing it.

He has been at the high school as amath teacher and soccer coach for thepast six years. Manneh faces challengeswhile going through the ropes of legal cit-izenship.“It’s just the nature of the immigration

process. The system is such that peoplelike us doing the thing the right way,going through the legal challenge and allthat, there are just so many things to getaround,” Manneh said.

Because of the instability of the immi-gration process, he is especially cautiousand conscious of rules at the school. Tomaintain a stable job in America while notyet a citizen is not a simple feat.“One [challenge] is, they want to make

sure that there isn’t an American citizenthat is able to do the job . . . The wholetime I was here [before my green card]every year my job gets advertised for peo-ple to apply. And you know, I guess if theycould find somebody that could do what Iwas doing, I’m out.”

When Manneh achieved the covetedgreen card, the high school’s adminis-trators were thrilled. To honor his jour-ney, they allowed him to speak to eachof the three lunch periods about his im-migration story.

Manneh and his wife, who is alsofrom the same Gambian town, main-tain their culture at home by tellingGambian children’s stories to theirthree daughters and one son. His wifealso cooks traditional African mealslike peanut butter and vegetable

soup.Manneh grew up in Gambia, dreaming

of America. He made his way to America,and has officially maintained permanentresidency with his green card. He hopesto continue down the path and cross thefinish line of American citizenship. Ulti-mately, he dreams of returning home toGambia.“I feel like when that happens,” Manneh

said, “everything will have come full cir-cle.”

trojan torch 1110 trojan torch

Soccer coach is green carded

WHAT DO YOU THINK?Turn to the back coverfor an editorial on thegreen card process topermanent residencyand citizenship in the USby Editor Madelyn Saye.Manneh celebrates his near-citizenship in front of the student body in each of the three lunch shifts during third period; administration at thehigh school encouraged Mannah to share his story to students. He waves two American flags in excitement before the crowd.

Photo courtesy Connie WrightFacebook

Manneh is currently head coach of the LadyTrojan Soccer Team.

Manneh played neighborhood soccer growingup. He always aspired to play professionally,which he eventually moved on to do. He alsoplayed for Alabama A&M, a D1 team, andnow coaches for both high school and clubteams.

Growing up a soccer player, it was obvious toManneh that he should carry his love of thegame to the United States into both his edu-cation and his profession. Manneh oncethought he would play professionally, amongthe David Beckhams of the world.

America is the greatest place in the world. -Musa Manneh

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