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Bryonna Sieck

The following is a Towson University podcast.

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Steph Sundermann-Zinger

Studying abroad offers a lot of benefits. Students gain cultural intelligence, explore new academic opportunities, and in some cases, strengthen their skills. In another language. It can also be challenging culture shock, homesickness and trouble. Communicating and connecting with peers can make international study a difficult experience. I'm your host, Steph Zinger, and you're listening to Three Degrees, a podcast for people who are curious about the grad school experience.

In this episode, we chat with three students who chose to leave their home countries to pursue graduate study in the United States. They share the joys they've experienced, the struggles they've encountered, and the myriad of ways that life and education in the U.S. has surprised them. First, we spoke with Abisola. She came to the U.S. from Nigeria to attend graduate school, and quickly learned that the America she'd seen on TV wasn't much like the country where she found herself.

00:01:09:01 - 00:01:22:22

Abisola

I had so many expectations because I've seen a lot of, you know, America in the movies, and I expected it to be more. Should I call you bougie? More classic than what I see now.

00:01:22:22 - 00:01:25:23

Steph Sundermann-Zinger

And what surprised you the most about the U.S.?

00:01:25:23 - 00:01:50:12

Abisola

I would say, is the money aspect. The fact that you have to spend money on every single thing like nothing is free. I mean, back home, if you want to pay your rent, you actually pay once a year, but right here is once a month. So, you know, it was it was really shocking to me that I have to pay rent every month. So when I go here, I have to start, you know, managing the amount of water I used a day because I knew I was going to pay for.

00:01:50:12 - 00:01:57:04

Steph Sundermann-Zinger

And it wasn't just the difference in financial expectations. That gave Abisola pause. There were other surprises, too.

00:01:57:06 - 00:02:19:11

Abisola

And when it comes to time, right back home, if you have a party scheduled for like 3:00, they, they call something African time where the party was started like five. But here it's like you have to be on time because it's actually going to start that time. So I had to get used to being punctual. It was something that was really shocking to me, so I had to get used to being punctual.

00:02:19:13 - 00:02:25:00

Steph Sundermann-Zinger

But for Abisola, the biggest difference between Nigeria and the US was the classroom experience.

00:02:25:02 - 00:02:35:11

Abisola

In Nigeria, if a regular student is going to medical school, they could spend like nine years, ten years because the government goes on strike. Especially if it's like a public school.

00:02:35:14 - 00:02:40:09

Steph Sundermann-Zinger

When the teachers or whoever go on strike, what are the students do?

00:02:40:12 - 00:02:47:02

Abisola

Oh, they stay at home? It's really no super great structure for like learning, deep learning, practicalizing.

00:02:47:04 - 00:02:49:23

Steph Sundermann-Zinger

Tell me about your first day of class. What was that like?

00:02:49:25 - 000:03:58:06

Abisola

My first day of class. I was very energetic and excited. I wanted to meet people, meet new friends, network and all of that. When I got to class, everyone was, you know, composed. You know, I didn't want to, like, I don't want to feel like I was just being too excited or too energetic about the class. It was like, what's the big deal?

But they don't know where I'm coming from. So I just sat composed too. I didn't really see anyone that, you know from Nigeria. So it was just me. And then, you know, the professor got done with the class and just packing my bags, realizing that everyone is popping out of the door. I was wondering like, what's going on?

We just got done. The professor too was packing bags, everybody was leaving and I was the only one left. I was like, what's really going on? I feel like it was when I started having my classes, when I started interacting with people, I realized that it wasn't a community like city or country compared to back home where you have everyone around, you have neighbors that you can go and stay with, play with, you know?

So it's like everyone is busy. So it makes me feel like I'm the less busy. Like what? That means I have to find something to instill because it's like everyone has something they're doing.

00:03:58:08 - 00:04:07:29

Steph Sundermann-Zinger

Instead of pulling away from the busyness she viewed as a key aspect of American culture. Abisola decided to lean in, and in doing so, she found purpose.

00:04:08:01 - 00:04:40:27

Abisola

So I was like, let me just do something to inspire other people. So I started my podcast on self-mastery. You know, about discipline yourselves, improving yourself, working on yourself. So the way I was teaching it, because she really kind of pull from an empty cup. So the way I was teaching other people, I was learning myself. I was improving on myself.

Inspiring people is something that makes me very excited and very happy. So waking up every morning knowing that at least one person is being inspired makes me really good. Makes me very happy.

00:04:40:29 - 00:04:42:07

Steph Sundermann-Zinger

And what's the name of your podcast?

00:04:42:11 - 00:05:17:13

Abisola

It's Love Letters to Jesus. I've been doing a lot of community service. I've gone out there, you know, to reach out to people, share food. I saw, you know, I've been downtown and I see how people are living. You know, he does something that makes me so sad. Like people are living this way. And I'm like, okay, what exactly what impact can I make?

Can I, you know, give to other people? What can my life, um, reflect in the lives of other people? If I'm come here to do my masters, I'm not just doing it because at the end of the day, it's just the money. My life has to count for something.

00:05:17:16 - 00:05:49:01

Steph Sundermann-Zinger

Abisola is determined to make an impact, and she sets an ambitious goals for herself. She's already applying to medical schools and plans to eventually return to Nigeria and open her own hospital. Our next guest, Adrian has plans that look a little different. He came to the U.S. for his bachelor's degree, then moved into the supply chain management master's program at Towson University. And after spending the last six years in the United States, he hopes to stay here permanently.

00:05:49:03 - 00:05:57:22

Adrian

I probably have the same goals as every other students my age. Finish school, get a job. You know, find a place to live, start a family.

00:05:57:24 - 00:05:59:23

Steph Sundermann-Zinger

And you plan to do all of that here?

00:05:59:25 - 00:06:13:04

Adrian

Yes. As a first choice. Yes, I'll still try. And if it doesn't work out, I'm not going to be mad at it. I'll just go back to Poland. And it's a beautiful country. We have a good economy. I can figure out my life there, too.

00:06:13:06 - 00:06:19:17

Steph Sundermann-Zinger

Adrian has been in the United States since 2019, when he moved in with his aunt and started his bachelor's degree.

00:06:19:20 - 00:06:39:04

Adrian

When I was in my last year of high school, I pretty much reached out to her if it's possible for me to come to United States. It was my little dream because I've watched movies. I watched like YouTube videos, and I was excited about the United States, and I kind of fell in love, and I wanted to try to come United States.

00:06:39:05 - 00:06:43:01

Steph Sundermann-Zinger

And what surprised you the most about the United States?

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Adrian

Definitely. The car dependency, that was really big one. Uh, In my first semester of school, I, I was looking for like public transportation and like, how do I get to school? By bus, by tram, by train, just anything. Or even like sidewalks, bike paths because I know the summer is really nice and I had bike, I enjoyed biking and I never thought about buying a car, but I quickly realized there's no there's no options. There's no choices.

00:07:11:14 - 00:07:25:15

Steph Sundermann-Zinger

Adrian ended up carpooling with family members for a couple of months while he worked to get his license and find a car. But the lack of public transportation wasn't the only surprise in store for him. Social experiences in the U.S. looked very different too.

00:07:25:18 - 00:07:57:25

Adrian

Here in the United States. I feel like clubbing ends at like 1 or 2 a.m. that's very early over in Poland. Like, you know, you pregame, you pregame at your house until like 11 p.m., you go to the club at like midnight and probably you're going to be on the dance floor until 4 or 5 a.m.. It's different. And here I go to the club at 10 p.m. it's like peak hour. At 1 a.m., the DJ rolls out, he goes home, and I want to continue. But everybody's leaving like absolutely.

00:07:57:27 - 00:08:03:16

Steph Sundermann-Zinger

Adrian found some big differences between the educational experiences in America and his home country.

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Adrian

In Poland, the education system is very strict. It's very demanding. We didn't really ask questions of our professors, our teachers. If I had any issues, I would, I would just study more. Coming to United States, I was surprised how especially like in college, kids in the classroom they, they also feel more comfortable with the professor. They ask questions. They have more relations with the professor. It's almost like a conversation in the classroom.

00:08:30:15 - 00:08:34:20

Steph Sundermann-Zinger

So tell me about your first day of class in the United States. What was that like for you?

00:08:34:22 - 00:09:20:25

Adrian

It was definitely a scary moment because at the time, like, even though my English was good, my grades were good in school and everything. It was really hard to understand all the people here like new accents, new voices. I had to spend some time to get adjusted and I couldn't understand like half of the lecture. So I would just sit there and understand some words.

I would have to go home and like, read the book again. You know, as the time passed, I would just get better, I would understand more. And when I heard the same voice, the same person a few times in a row, I would understand more like I would understand the accent and just have a better understanding of the lecture. I was definitely afraid of my accent at first, so the shyness went away.

00:09:20:27 - 00:09:30:04

Steph Sundermann-Zinger

Even without that shyness, Adrian initially struggled to make connections with other students. For him, the key to success was getting involved on campus.

00:09:30:07 - 00:10:34:28

Adrian

I think it's because people have, you know, full time jobs. Some of them have relationships, so they have everybody's busy. Everybody has different things to do. It's not high school anymore where people just go to classes and hang out afterwards. But slowly I was able to find some connections. Every semester I had a different job on campus, so I met different coworkers, different people, different students, and I was involved in the supply chain club that I started as a member.

I was just a member. I would come to meetings every week and I would listen. Towards the end of the semester, they were electing like, who wants to be president, vice president of the club the next semester? And I was like, let's try it. Let's see how I do. So I raised my hand and I was like, hey, I want to be vice president.

And they let me do it. So, like this whole semester, this year, I was vice president of the supply chain club. And looking back, I never thought this would happen, but it did happen. So I just had to try. I had to push myself to do it to to be there, to be exposed.

00:10:35:01 - 00:10:40:02

Steph Sundermann-Zinger

So what advice would you give to another student who was thinking about coming to the United States?

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Adrian

The first semester I had like a mental blockage where I could hear my voice, I could hear my accent, and I was shy because of that. Definitely. Don't be scared to speak English. At some point, I realized wherever I go, there's somebody speaking English as a second language. There's someone in the room that his English is not perfect.

And I'm like, where are you from? And they say, oh, I'm from this country, from that country. The shyness went away. You know, I'm not so much afraid anymore to to talk to speaking English.

00:11:16:22 - 00:11:32:07

Steph Sundermann-Zinger

That's good advice. And following it helped our next guest, Herty build a strong community in the United States. She came to the U.S. from Ghana to study communications, and when she arrived, she didn't find things to be exactly as she'd imagined.

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Herty

My initial expectations of the United States, the environment. In the first phase, I was looking forward to seeing all these skyscraper buildings, like how the movies and the TV have made it look like. So I remember when I came out of the airport and I was just seeing cars and just driving home, and I'm seeing so many like, vast land with trees and stuff.

I was I was asking myself, is this like the same thing that I saw on TV? But I feel, that was like my first shock. But at the end of the day, getting into school and settling in, it's actually what I was expecting. To some extent, in the sense, like I was expecting the challenge, the differences, the ability to work out of my comfort zone.

00:12:18:13 - 00:12:21:05

Steph Sundermann-Zinger

And school was definitely different.

00:12:21:07 - 00:13:09:18

Herty

I would say that over here, the structure focuses more on practicals. It's, eh, involves you getting engaged and involved in the work, and it also encourages participation in classroom conversations. Unlike where I'm from, you have a professor come to the classroom, gives you a lecture, gives you the slides and the notes, and it's kind of, um, drawing you to what exactly you should expect or anticipate in the exam.

But over here, the focus is more on practicality. You need to apply the reality to whatever you are learning. So when I compare both, I would say they both have their sides. But the difference would be that over here it focuses more on, participation, real world examples and then also more in classroom discussions and engagement.

00:13:09:21 - 00:13:13:29

Steph Sundermann-Zinger

So tell me about your first day of class here in the United States. What was that like?

00:13:14:01 - 00:13:41:22

Herty

It was nerve wracking because like, I don't know. I don't know anybody, unlike Ghana, where at least I could have 1 or 2 friends that I know. We applied into the same program, so we're going to do the same. We're going to be having the same classes and stuff, but coming into a space where you absolutely have no idea who you are going to see.

It was, I was very anxious, didn't know whether to speak up or whether to just be quiet. I was very careful of my choice of words because I didn't know what to say.

00:13:41:22 - 00:13:47:09

Steph Sundermann-Zinger

And how did you how did you sort of navigate that, that feeling of of not quite fitting.

00:13:47:12 - 00:14:42:07

Herty

I started looking out for community, and I started seeing myself as coming from even though coming from a different background, I'm coming with a different experience and culture background, which is also rich. So I thought of it as how can I balance it out to help myself. So if there's a conversation that's going on in the classroom that I feel I can contribute to that conversation based on my experience and my perspective, and make other people also understand and want to be more engaging and get to know more about me.

I would leverage that to my advantage, and I see that I made efficient use of community, not only relating to people who come from similar backgrounds, but then also open it up myself to learn about other people and getting into the whole American space. So I open up myself to be friends with Americans, get to know more about their culture, get to know how things are done over here.

00:14:42:13 - 00:14:49:20

Steph Sundermann-Zinger

Her. She found herself making friends easily and soon discovered the social scene in America was very different than what she was used to.

00:14:49:23 - 00:15:38:13

Herty

I remember I remember having to go for a party with a friend and where I come from, like especially from Ghana, you know, we we listen to like different songs. I mean, we listened to some American songs, but it's the rap, the hip hop, and I go for a party with my friend. And the only song I kept hearing the DJ play was There&rsquo:s a Party in the USA. I'm like, yeah, is this, is this like the only song?

I mean, people play 1 or 2 songs, but he would definitely come back to that song and how everybody else was. I looked so lost. She could clearly tell like, okay, this is not your space, I better take you out of here. It was completely different. But then at that point I just told myself, you know, this is this is a different space and this is what you've chosen to do for the next couple of years of your life. So you have to at least adjust and embrace her.

00:15:38:13 - 00:15:47:12

Steph Sundermann-Zinger

She made a commitment to herself to just go with the flow, to dive into American culture and see where things took her, and she ended up in a lot of interesting places.

00:15:47:15 - 00:16:10:21

Herty

I've been to Atlanta, I've been to Ohio, I've been to Chicago, Philly, I've been to Boston, I've been to Arizona. Yeah, I've been to Arizona. It was the longest flight of my life. I, where the moment I got there I just told my friend like, look, I have never been in as long as domestic flights than this, but I loved it.

00:16:10:27 - 00:16:15:04

Steph Sundermann-Zinger

Can you share a time when you really felt like, oh, I'm definitely not in Ghana right now?

00:16:15:11 - 00:17:15:09

Herty

It was an invitation from a friend to go spend some spring break with her family. I'm used to break like we we don't do like spring breaks and fall breaks and Thanksgiving. We have like Easter and then the Christmas festivities, so. Oh, like, I'm here thinking, um, there's going to be a trail of, you know, different foods. And I was expecting to, we like to eat heavy, okay. So I get there and the table is set and I'm seeing crackers, cheese, ham, bacon. And I'm looking at my friend like, is this just appetizer. So like and she goes like, oh no, this is the main meal. I'm like girl you knew me before bringing me here. Like what is happening at that point I just knew. Hmm, hmm. This, this is like, this is not my home. Like I'm definitely not back home. So I need to get used to this.

00:17:15:16 - 00:17:28:04

Steph Sundermann-Zinger

While she plans to go back to Ghana eventually, Herty isn't in a rush to leave the United States, a place she's come to think of as a second home, and she has some clear advice for any international students thinking about coming here to study.

00:17:28:11 - 00:18:01:02

Herty

So I would say have an open mind. Allow yourself to go through the process, like especially when you get in here, give yourself some grace because you are in a new space that is completely different from what you've been used to your whole life. So just give yourself grace and time to go through the process and just have that energy and experience, and you would find yourself doing very well, easier and probably faster than you thought you could.

00:18:01:04 - 00:18:40:23

Steph Sundermann-Zinger

Every guest on today's show faced challenges as part of their study abroad experience, but when asked, each of them said the benefits far outweighed the difficulties. I hope those stories offered you a little inspiration and a glimpse into what's possible. If you're a student listening to this and thinking, I wonder if international study could be an option for me, I encourage you to reach out to your school's Office of International Studies and find out what opportunities are available to you.

You've been listening to Three Degrees, a podcast produced out of Towson University by myself and my co-producer and sound engineer, Bryonna Sieck.

00:18:40:26 - 00:19:08:27

Bryonna Sieck

Founded in 1866, Towson University is a top comprehensive public research university recognized as Maryland's number one public institution by The Wall Street Journal. As Greater Baltimore's largest university to proudly serves as an engine of opportunity for nearly 20,000 students in the state of Maryland and beyond. Explore more than 190 top rank undergraduate and graduate degree programs and make our momentum yours at Towson.edu