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Victoria Hewitt writes on Ashesi and Ghana

I came to Ashesi this semester in about as last-minute a fashion as one can get.  In a six week span of my sophomore fall I decided that I wanted to study abroad in the spring, study in Africa, in Ghana. Princeton has fewer than 5,000 undergrads and I had to agree with my study abroad supervisor that being on a 30,000+ campus would be daunting especially if I was going to be there for just a semester.

 I was hesitant about Ashesi at first because it was billed as a business and computer programming school.  I took an introductory Java course as a requirement for my Princeton engineering degree and had no desire to take more programming classes.  Princeton does not offer a business major, so it is not possible for me to get credit for classes such as Competitive Strategy or Negotiations.  As I looked further into the Ashesi education, I realized that the focus was not just business and computers, but rather a liberal arts education.  And that I saw as valuable

 Now on the brink of my return to the U.S, yes, I am quite glad I came to Ashesi. Ashesi is certainly a liberal-arts university.  At Ashesi, students are required to not only learn the material but analyze and apply their knowledge. I loved my professors in Social Theory and Investments because they were particularly good teachers—they were able to transmit challenging material clearly and effectively while still keeping the class engaging. 

 The classes I took are only a microchosm of my Ashesi experience but I see a similar pride and hard work in the students overall.  Ashesi students work hard.  At school people will be working on programming assignments or writing papers in the library or computer labs.  Students are often working late into the night at the hostels as well. In the U.S., I think a dominant theme of college can sometimes be partying instead of academics.  At Ashesi, the dominant theme is working hard.  That being said, the work did not completely overshadow social life.  Students always did find ways to let out steam-once the work was done, that is.

 While Ashesi students are learning a lot from their classes, I think I learned the most from my experience of just living and attending school here.  Living in the Danquah hostel helped me get to know other students better.  Last semester at Princeton, I lived in a spacious two-room double in a beautiful Gothic dorm with a close friend.  Suddenly living in a foreign country in a non air-conditioned, fourth floor apartment with 8 other girls I didn’t know was quite a change.  I quickly learned to have a bucket handy for when the water “is finished”, how to effectively scrub my own laundry, and that fans are incredibly important. I am thankful to have had a wonderful roommate here at Ashesi, who I became good friends with over the semester.  I also was glad to have other CIEE students in the hostel to talk about the frustrations and share the excitement of being in a new country and school. 

 The country of Ghana as a whole I will certainly remember, some parts fondly, others not so much.  Open gutters, experiences with corrupt police officers, and contracting malaria are far from my fondest memories of Ghana.  But the intensely bright colors both in nature and women’s fabrics, music playing on the street, and people of all ages running around or sitting in the shade outside do weave a warm mental image of “Ghana”.  It is my conversations and interactions with the people here, though, which enriched and formed a large part of what I will take with me from my time here.  A large portion of my time in Ghana was spent around Ashesi students and faculty, and my relationships with them have had a significant impact on the Ghana that I know. 

 

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