By Taeeon Moon ’25

Mercersburg didn’t just prepare me academically. It taught me how to be organized, how to lead, and how to believe I belonged in spaces I never thought I’d enter.”

Gnim Bazim ’17

When Gnim Bazim ’17 stepped onto Mercersburg’s campus for the first time, he knew it was the place that would change his life. “I’d visited three or four other schools,” he recalled, “but the moment I arrived, I felt it. Something clicked.”

Today, Bazim is a practicing attorney in New York City, helping universities, tech companies, professional sports teams, art galleries, and global businesses navigate immigration law at one of the top firms in the country. But his journey to the courtroom began long before law school—with a soccer ball in the Bronx.

Born in Togo and raised in New York after his mother won the U.S. visa lottery, Bazim credits much of his path to the opportunities opened through financial aid at Mercersburg. “There’s no way I could have attended without it,” he said. “But what amazed me more was how invisible it was. I never felt different because I was on aid. I felt seen, supported, and welcomed.”

That feeling stuck with him. When Bazim entered Muhlenberg College, connections made through Mercersburg helped him land a job in the financial aid office, offered on the spot during a visit to say hello. He later interned for five summers at a New York law firm, thanks again to an introduction through the Mercersburg network.

“Mercersburg didn’t just prepare me academically,” Bazim said. “It taught me how to be organized, how to lead, and how to believe I belonged in spaces I never thought I’d enter.”

Now, Bazim is looking ahead. His long-term goal? To fund a scholarship of his own in honor of a beloved Mercersburg coach. “It’s the least I can do,” he said. “I want donors to know their investment wasn’t wasted. I’m trying to do good in the world—and it started with them.”

To those considering giving, Bazim offers a challenge: Visit the campus. “Sit in the dining hall, talk to the students. If you do, I guarantee you’ll see the difference you can make.”