28 | LEHIGH ALUMNI BULLETIN | FROM THE NEST As a child, Athiel Mading ’25 lived without the security of a stable home. In Nairobi, Kenya, there were times when she and her siblings had to find rest on the streets. On occasion, community members opened their doors and welcomed them in for temporary shelter. Most days, regardless of her living situation, she’d walk past GEMS International School, a private, K-12 British curriculum international school, and wonder what it would be like to be a student there. One day, she had enough of wondering. “What could go wrong?” Mading said she asked herself at the time. “They could say no, but you can always try.” Plus, she thought it would be exciting to tell her siblings she walked right into the school. So that’s what she did. Or at least she tried. Security guards turned away Mading. She persisted. It took five trips until school principal Scott Weber caught wind of Mading’s attempts and wanted to meet with her. Without her persistence, Mading likely would not have made it to Lehigh, where she walked across the stage during May’s 2025 Commencement ceremonies. She officially graduated in December with a degree in materials science and engineering after spending all four years on the university’s cross country team. Once she arrived at Lehigh, it was her drive, along with support from friends, coaches, professors and services at the university, that helped Mading earn her diploma. Persistence Pays At age 15, after not having had a formal education in almost six years, Mading entered a school building. Now, finally meeting with the principal, she wanted to convince him to allow her to enroll. Mading was given an academic test and did exceptionally well on the writing portion. In addition to the testing, they asked if she could supply any writing samples. She pulled out a book of poetry she had been working on—the only example she had of her writing. Mading said startDetermination Led Athiel Mading ’25 from Nairobi to Lehigh The materials science and engineering major refused to take no for an answer and forged her own path toward a degree. By Stephen Gross
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