Lawyer Ace Anan Ankomah stood before the graduating Class of 2026 at SOS-Hermann Gmeiner International College (SOS-HGIC) on June 11, 2026, and took them back 40 years to a struggling secondary school student who had little reason to believe success lay ahead. That student was himself.

Delivering the commencement address on the theme, “Shaping Ethical Leaders for an AI-Driven Future: A Pan-African Responsibility,” Ankomah blended reflections on artificial intelligence with a deeply personal account of failure, resilience and self-discipline. But the most compelling lesson came from his transformation from an academically weak student to the best A-Level graduate at Mfantsipim School.

“I would have voted for myself,” Ankomah recounted. During most of his first five years at Mfantsipim, he drifted without direction. “Had we voted for the classmate least likely to succeed, I would have probably voted for myself; and won,” he told the graduates. His academic performance deteriorated so badly that he was assigned to Form 4G2 — a class reserved for the weakest students academically. To make matters worse, he was also a stammerer, a challenge he says he still lives with today.

That period became a turning point. Ankomah realised he was failing and that unless he changed course dramatically, his future would be bleak. Rather than resign himself to failure, he decided to rebuild himself through reading and disciplined study.

“You only know what you study, and you can't study what you don't read.”

That discovery led him to immerse himself in books. He read relentlessly to make up for lost time, eventually securing admission into Sixth Form by what he described as the narrowest of margins. His study habits became even more rigorous afterwards. When his father bought him most of the prescribed texts for Sixth Form, Ankomah said he devoured them repeatedly until he made another important discovery.

“If I read something ten times, I was unlikely to forget it. So, ten times I read,” he said. To this day, he advises law students to read every text at least ten times, arguing that many students blame a lack of time when the real obstacles are often distraction, laziness or excessive sleep. He also developed a disciplined system for preparing for examinations by organising past questions according to topics and using them to guide his studies.

At the age of 16, Ankomah predicted his own A-Level grades and set a specific ambition: to study law at the University of Ghana and live in Annex A of Legon Hall. He wrote those goals and personal mantras inside every book he owned. One of those guiding principles was simple: “Failure finds no home where discipline and dedication live.”

“Yes, I prayed. But I worked even harder than I prayed,” he recalled. The results exceeded even his own expectations. The student who had barely entered Sixth Form emerged in 1986 as Mfantsipim's best A-Level student, earning one of the school's highest academic honours.

“Everyone was shocked: me first, and to borrow from my best friend, ‘me mostest,'” he joked.

Throughout his address, Ankomah repeatedly returned to the importance of discipline. While acknowledging that hard work doesn't automatically guarantee success, he argued that success rarely occurs without it. Drawing on a saying often attributed to basketball coach Tim Notke, he reminded graduates that “hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard.” He rejected the notion of effortless success, describing achievement as the product of consistent habits, sacrifice and invisible preparation.

“What people often call natural success is usually the visible result of invisible preparation.”

For students facing academic struggles, he offered encouragement rooted in his own experience. “Real supermen and superwomen don't leap over buildings in a single bound; they take small, determined steps, consistently, over time,” he said.

Ankomah also reflected on his experiences as a parent, noting that all three of his children attended SOS-HGIC and eventually entered the legal profession. One memorable moment came during a parent-teacher meeting when he was pressing teachers about his daughter's academic performance — a reminder that even a top lawyer remains a concerned father.

Today, Ace Ankomah is a renowned lawyer, public servant and corporate governance expert. But his message to the Class of 2026 was clear: success is built on discipline, not talent. And if a stammering boy from Form 4G2 can become the best student in his year, anyone can.