My name is Prize Joy Magezi from Uganda. I am in my final year of a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies at Stellenbosch University. I participated in an exchange program to the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) in the United States for the Spring Semester of 2014 (January to May). Here is a story about my unforgettable experience. This part of the story will mainly focus on the first month of arriving at the University as well as what happened before I arrived.
I received my acceptance letter from the Stellenbosch International office in September 2013 and I was ecstatic! What a wonderful opportunity God had laid before me! Having grown up in the United States between the ages of 6 and 10, I was excited to go back and reunite with old friends and it had always been my dream to attend an American University. The months of October, November and December flew by. I was overloaded with academic work that I had to make sure was done well so as to maintain my good grades. I visualised in my mind every night what it would be like in America. I was excited, happy and grateful.
After Christmas with my family in Uganda, I began to physically prepare for my trip, like gathering and packing what I needed for the trip. I bought a few African gifts for my friends in the States and also some dried food from my country that I knew I would definitely miss. I put together all my traveling documents and I was ready to go. The morning of my flight, I fell sick. I was sick to my stomach. It dawned on me that I was going to a faraway land by myself again… the first being South Africa for my studies at Stellenbosch. In my mind I kept telling myself that all would be well and that God would go with me and stay with me. But my stomach didn’t want to believe that. I spent most of my time that morning on the toilet seat before my mother came and said we had to hit the road for it was an hour’s drive from my home to the airport.
I was so scared….What was I thinking applying for this? What if… What if… What if… All these doubts and questions were running through my mind and then my body spiked a fever. My family was with me and they took me to the doctor for some blood work in case I had malaria or something. When my lab results came out clean, my dad pointed out that it was all in my head and I just needed to CALM DOWN. We got to the airport and they prayed for me and said last good byes. I was now at the mercy of God. I arrived safely after a very very very very long flight from Uganda. It was 6 hours from Uganda to Dubai, then I had a stopover in Dubai for 5 hours, but there was alot to see in one of the biggest airports in the world, so the time went by very fast. The flight from Dubai to Memphis was 19 hours making a total of 25 hours. I was so TIRED by the time I got there.
Upon my arrival, there were very nice people at the airport from the University of Mississippi waiting for me and other exchange students who were also on my flight. Oh! By that time, my stomach had calmed down and my body temperature was back to normal. My Dad was right… I just needed to calm down. We got to the apartments where we would be staying. It was wonderful and that is when the excitement kicked back in. “Yaaaayyy!!! I am in America!!!!” I thought to myself.
It was very cold and the temperature was -15 degrees Centigrade when I arrived. Of course coming from Africa, I didn’t have enough clothes on…. The very ironic thing about Mississippi was that it was that cold and it didn’t snow….. What a waste of coldness!! It was snowing up to 25 inches of snow in the neighbouring states. I must say however, that it was so beautiful!!! Ole Miss (University of Mississippi) was ranked the most beautiful campus in the USA for 2013. It was spectacular. The beautiful mountains and vineyards that surround Stellenbosch still take the trophy in my opinion.
I settled into my apartment and got to meet my flatmates. I absolutely loved my apartment and my flatmates were so sweet. I shared an apartment with two Korean girls named Kyangmi and Yugyang and one Brazilian girl named Izamara. They were also exchange students, but they were learning English. They hardly knew English so communication in the house was very practical and full of more sign language than words…. It was so funny the first few days trying to communicate. We would just find ourselves laughing most of the time at ourselves not being able to make sense of each other. It was crazy! Hahaha! I am so happy that I could contribute to their learning experience by teaching them some English at home. We had to label most of the furniture and equipment in our apartment with the English name and also their native languages so that they could at least learn stuff around the house. They were so interesting. I knew in my heart that it was the start of a great semester with them….. And indeed it was.
Back to the arrival story….. After being allocated rooms, we had to go back to the clubhouse for dinner, and guess what was being served…. Yup! You guessed right… Pizza!!! Upon the sight of that very greasy, cheesy, meaty, round, sliced food, I had a very immediate thought which did turn out to be right… “This was the beginning of my dreaded weight gain that everyone at home was teasing me about before I left.” With that said, it should be noted that I gained 10 kilograms in my first month. Aaarrrggggg!! I wanted to pull my hair out! Hahaha! We got to meet our global ambassadors and community assistants or in other words, our ‘go-to’ people in case of anything. My global ambassador’s name was Amanda. She was very helpful and caring. She took me that evening to Wal-mart to buy an extra blanket for my bed so that I would not freeze to death on my first night. I got plenty of rest that night from my long flight and the next day was the start of Orientation on campus.
The following morning; my spirit was high, big smile on my face, eyes wide open and my heart was expectant, but my body was COLD! I will never forget how cold it was. It got so cold during the following weeks that it literally made me cry… Ya…. That is how cold it was. Or maybe I am just too African… Hahaha! Anyway, orientation was great! Our coordinator’s name was Ms. Molly Fryman. She ‘packed’ us with so much information and detail about what to expect, what to do and what not to do. The orientation sessions were very informative and all-round that I felt very equipped for the semester. Once the sit-down sessions ended in 3 days, we got a tour of the LARGE but very beautiful campus. There was an efficient bus system that ran both on and off campus so it was pretty easy to get around… only if you knew which bus to get on, which I struggled with for the first few weeks. I later discovered that there was a phone app that would tell me how far the bus was from the bus stage was standing on. The busses went everywhere. The only set back is that they only ran up to 9pm and so I either had to be where I wanted to be the rest of the night by 9pm or I would have to call a friend with a car to pick me up if it was later. By the way, people in Mississippi are very friendly and hospitable so it was not a problem to find a lift anywhere.
Sorry that I keep diverting from the main story but all these detours and extra information is very necessary and interesting too …. Ok… back to orientation… Time came for us to register for the courses we wanted to do for the semester. The registration system is different from the Stellenbosch system. At Stellenbosch, we are given a set list compulsory modules that one has to do for the specific course. Take an example of my course; International Studies where I have to do specific Political Science and History modules as well as Decision Making and Value Studies. At Ole Miss, every student had the liberty to choose which module they wanted to do. So if one had to do Political Science, then they would have the liberty to choose which political science they wanted to do like Politics of China, Politics of America, International Conflict and so on. But the catch is that a student has to sign up for that specific class and classes have a limit on the number of students who can register so signing up is on a first come, first served basis. Most of the classes that had been approved for me to do by my lecturers were fully booked out by the time I got to register, so I had to do alternative classes which I did not mind doing but they were not my first choices. I got registered into Politics of China, International Conflict, Cultural Anthropology, Intermediate French and Black American History. That made up a total of 18 credit hours unlike the 12 or 15 credit hours that most of the other students were taking. I had to take more credit hours because of the compulsory modules in my course at Stellenbosch and also because being in final year, I wanted to do all the required modules so that I could still graduate in December as planned. I must say however, that it was very prestigious doing 18 credit hours because everyone who found out was astonished and gave me a lot of respect for managing such a big work load.
Classes began in my second week of arrival and it was very easy for me to fit in. It was very easy to find my classes and the lecturers were very welcoming. My classes were very small and we all knew each other. My biggest class had about 30 students in it. This was very different from what I was used to at Stellenbosch, being in a class of over 50 students. The classes were very interactive and the professors knew each student by name. The first two weeks of class were a breeze, so I thought…. Little did I know what was coming up ahead…
Settled in:
My academic life during the exchange program at Ole Miss was crazy. As mentioned, in my previous entry, I was doing 18 credit hours as opposed to the normal 12 or 15 credit hours that all the other exchange students were doing. This was due to the compulsory nature of the modules I had to do from Stellenbosch if I wanted to graduate on time. The workload was enormous but manageable because I made it through.
At the start of classes in the beginning of the semester, everything was relaxed and exciting. During the third week of classes, the work picked up momentum like I had never seen before. I am not used to getting homework every day at Stellenbosch but I literally had homework every day during the exchange. That is one of the differences that I had to adapt to.
Another MAJOR difference was the amount of reading and self-study that was assigned to students at an undergraduate level. I thought it was CRAZY! Most African undergraduate students do not have a reading culture at all… well at least at Stellenbosch students don’t. I can say that from experience. It was difficult to pass without reading or developing a reading culture. I was forced to read and read and read and read. Mostly because self-study work was very important unlike at Stellenbosch where most of the self-study work is done out of interest. At Stellenbosch, the main and important work is covered in class. At Ole Miss, self-study work was equally important. Oh my goodness! It was so difficult to adapt to this. Perhaps that is why I felt like the work load was abnormal…. By reading culture I mean reading anything and everything; being able to read 120 pages every day, five times a week at an undergraduate level. This was something I was able to master and by the end of the semester I was reading like crazy. That is one of the things I am grateful I acquired from the exchange.
Classes at Ole Miss were very interesting. They were very interactive and the lecturers did more than just talk. We watched videos, attended workshops, had guest speakers, group work and projects similar to Stellenbosch. I was particularly impressed by the method they used to teach French; which by the way was one of my modules. At Stellenbosch I always dread my French classes but at Ole Miss, I was able to enjoy learning French for the first time. We used a computer program that made learning tremendously helpful. The lecturer in class also tried to create a ‘France environment’ and it always felt like we were actually in Paris. It was always a very practical experience.
For my Political Science classes, there was a lot of discussion and students’ opinions were appreciated. It was different from having to base our work on SOLEY another person’s opinion through referencing. Of course we still had to do that but the students’ opinion was also welcomed and encouraged at Undergraduate level. Class discussions and interactions I found made it more interesting and easier to learn. I enjoyed the whole academic experience because apart from the tonnes of academic reading, the system encouraged me to be creative and innovative; to have my own opinion and not just read and regurgitate information at an undergraduate level. This I believe is very empowering.
Cultural adaptation for me was not a huge issue. I fitted into the society easily because I had lived in America for 4 years with my family during my childhood so due to this prior experience, adapting was easier. It was not a bed of roses though….. I missed my Family in Uganda and when I thought about how much land and water separated us, it made me sick. It took me about a month to get over this and when I did, my experience became phenomenal! I let go and made the most of the great opportunity. I also made many friends in class and outside class… with the locals and the internationals… I tried to be all round. I joined a church and that became one of my support structures. The Christian community at Ole Miss was amazing and I thank God that I could have that.
Oh…. I did have a cultural shock…. My body was shocked by the food and I adapted BADLY to the food. I GAINED…… wait for it……. 10 KILOGRAMS IN MY FIRST MONTH! That freaked me out! I resorted to cooking for myself because then I could monitor what was in my food and it was also a cheaper option. I should point out that in the south of America; especially Mississippi where I was, almost everything is deep-fried….. Yup! Crazy I know. I managed to maintain the 10 kilo addition and not gain anymore. I went to the gym which was free to students with presentation of a student card. That kept me sane in terms of weight maintenance.
American culture is by all means very different from African culture but I took whatever came and enjoyed it as it was. I remained open minded and eager to learn, try new things, go places and do what Americans do. It was amazing. I also had to answer silly questions Americans who were ignorant about Africa in many ways. Like “How did you get here?” And then I would think….. Uhhmmmm….. By plane….. Do you have a pet Zebra?….Like really… Hahahahaha!!! Anyway, they were always eager to know more and I was happy to share my culture and knowledge with them. I also learnt and experienced other cultures through my roommates from Brazil and South Korea as well as other exchange students from many other parts of the world. We had so many differences, but we learnt throughout the semester how to cope with and tolerate each other.
My exchange experience was phenomenal and I would definitely do this again!
Back home:
From all that I have shared in my pervious entries, my exchange at Ole Miss was phenomenal, amazing, crazy and worthwhile. I learnt a lot from the people I met and also shared a lot. On the academic side, I developed a reading culture and a flame of creativity was ignited in my heart. The international learning and knowledge exposed me to different cultural and community perspectives. I was able to learn how to count and say hello in Korean, Persian and Spanish from social interactions. I was able to adapt to the Ole Miss approach and system of education which I believe improved my analytical and problem solving skills. It also enhanced my interest in global issues and general knowledge from other cultures as well.
On the social and personal end, I made so many contacts and lifelong friends from all parts of the world. I experienced tremendous self-development and I became very confident in myself as a mature global citizen. I learnt to embrace my opinions and I also improved my decision making skills. I was able to set new and fresh goals from what I learnt and I am working on achieving them.
In terms of logistics, there was not much I had to do before leaving Ole Miss. I went to say good bye and give big hugs to all the international office staff who had been so helpful and supportive and that was it. Of course I had to do the obvious things like make sure I complete all my module assignments and write my final exams as well as clear my student account, but in terms of admin on their side, there was nothing I had to do. In my apartment, I packed my little bags and cleaned out my room and that was it. On the Stellenbosch side, I had to write 3 entries on my experience during the whole program as well as fulfill the rest of the requirements in the contract.
I had a wonderful opportunity to do an internship after my exams from May to July at the United Nations in New York. I was there for 3 months and it was one of the best times of my life. I lived my dream which has always been to live in New York and work at the United Nations. I was working as a Ugandan diplomat and it was just life changing. I met so many high profile people and dignitaries like Ban Ki Moon who is the current Secretary General of the United Nations as well as other diplomats and ambassadors. I got this opportunity through Ole Miss even though I had to apply for the actual internship. I got academic credit which I believe will also enhance my CV and give me good working prospects. The experience I gained is invaluable and so worthwhile.
I eventually had to return to Stellenbosch and settling back has also been interesting. I would not say it is settling back into my old life because my life has tremendously changed from the exchange experience. It has been exciting to apply my new reading skills and new life approach. It is my last semester so I am also looking forward to graduation.
I just want to end this by giving thanks to first of all the International Office of Stellenbosch University, my home institution, for nominating me and giving me such a wonderful opportunity. I thank and commend Ms. Huba Boshoff for all the good work in coordinating the exchange and being so supportive and positive. Thanks to Ole Miss for hosting me and for giving me the above experience. Thanks to all my friends and family. Lastly and most importantly, thanks be to God for EVERYTHING, for without HIM, none of this would have been possible.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!