It had always been
my dream to study abroad. I looked at Facebook pictures of some of my friends who
lived abroad and I wondered when my own time would come. It’s surprising I felt
this way because I had been abroad to visit a number of times. I guess I just
felt it would be super cool when I crossed from being the occasional visitor to
a more permanent resident. *wink*
My visa interview
went surprisingly well and I got my most ‘coveted’ student visa to study in the
US. OMG! My dream was indeed about to come true! I couldn’t wait to get to the
US and start my Master’s program. I was studying a course I had always loved.
It felt like a major adventure in my adult life was about to start.
Fast forward a few weeks
in and what I feel now is far from an adventurous feeling… I’m here on my bed, eyes
almost falling out of their sockets due to long hours of staring at the
computer, completing assignments, writing papers and reading long essays. Sigh!
The first major issue
for me was the accent. My accent, no matter how much I tried, just couldn’t
sound right. I twisted my tongue, my lips, changed the pitch of my voice,
everything! All in the bid to mask my Naija accent but the thing stuck to me
like glue. Not like I’m not proud of my own accent, it’s just that I didn’t want
to be picked out as new just because I sounded different!
Next stop was school.
Being my first time studying outside my country, the experience was really
different from what I was used to. I wasn’t used to interacting with my
professors freely, being allowed to eat in class in the full glare of my professor
whilst he/she is teaching, e.t.c. (I might as well have been swallowing morsels
of eba, they do not care!) In Nigeria, our professors were mini gods or so we
made them out to be!
The assignments and
papers nko? Hmmm! I’m so drowned in assignments and papers these days!
Sometimes I just feel like screaming, ditching this whole idea and taking the
next flight to Nigeria!
I really could go
on and on. But this is a guest post so I shall sign out here and go back to my
assignments. (I typed this right in the middle of one).
Asking if I regret coming
here? No! I do not. It’s not all sad
tales as there are great lessons to learn studying abroad. Your brain
literarily opens up and you feel yourself getting wiser and doing big things
you never thought you were capable of doing. The system of learning is more
‘hands on’ as opposed to theoretical and all that cramming! However I wish someone had warned me of all to
expect because the culture shock I experienced…oh dear, I was really unprepared
for it.
I look forward to
the day I would stop feeling weird and new and just get a full hang of all that
is going on around me. I also look forward to my graduation although it’s still
at least a solid 15 months from now but a girl is allowed to dream now abi?
With bulging eyes, braids and Starbucks coffee,
Kemmy
Mario
ReplyDeleteSo aunty kemmy what should we do for you?
I did enjoy this piece. Studying abroad is no child's play!
ReplyDeleteAwww, Kpele Kemi. It will get better. *e hugs*
ReplyDeleteNice write up....lmao @ being allowed to eat in class....I wonder how it will feel like.
ReplyDeleteDid you write the GRE? also want to school in the US...nice article btw
ReplyDeleteThanks TAC for featuring this!*wink* Thanks to everyone too for your comments. Yes Anon, i wrote GRE and TOEFL.
ReplyDeletenice write up kemi....pls wots d name of d uni?
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Education system in US seems to be so good. you should have preferred some education consultants in Chennai who can guide you in all the way towards the abroad education
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to see a flexible education system in the US, plus we all know the kind of opportunities out there are a lot more than what we get here. This is what we strive to bring to students in our country - a wide variety of choice so students can actually pursue what they want to, instead of being pushed around into the limitied academic & career choices.
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