Getting Schooled by Chioma Agwuegbo

We’re always excited to hear from readers in other countries so when Chioma Agwuegbo emailed us a few months ago, we immediately enlisted her to write a guest post! Chioma grew up in Nigeria, where she graduated from Ebonyi State University with a degree in Mass Communication. She’s worked as a researcher, writer and producer of the award-winning “Story Story” radio drama for the BBC World Service in Nigeria, is an aspiring poet and has her own blog, The Fairy Godsister.

Currently, Chioma is studying for an M.A. in Social Media at Birmingham City University in the U.K. We thought it would be fun for her to compare her experiences at school in Nigeria and in the U.K. — as it turns out, she already had a list that she had sent to a friend in the same position! We smiled through this whole piece, and hope to meet Chioma one of these days. She is adorable, and would make any place feel like home!

Recently, a friend called and gleefully told me she had just gained admission into the University of Manchester. Baby girl asked if I had any tips for her.

Er, after spending nine months here, if I don’t have any “words of wisdom” for someone coming from Nigeria, we should be dialing Houston because we’d have a problem!

Here is an adaptation of the letter I sent her:

1. Make sure you buy one of those tiny pocketbooks with locks to store the one billion passwords you’ll be given! Coming from a country where the only passwords I had were for my email, social networks and bank accounts, it was a challenge to have to learn different logins for my university account, printing, library account, and even the Student Union website.

2. Buy a thesaurus! Not because you can not converse in passable English, but because you will constantly need to define the words “reflect” and “evaluate,” which are the operative words for most of the reports you will be asked to write. On my first report, my tutor said I didn’t reflect enough. I changed my approach, only to get feedback on another report that I “over-reflected” and my work was chatty. Can you imagine my confusion?

3. Maybe this should have been number one because it directly affects everything else you do. Ever heard the term “extreme weather?” It is cold! Oh, my word, IT IS COLD! During winter, it gets so cold sometimes I climb into bed, bury myself under my duvet and cry! Cry because, draped in stockings, socks, thermal underwear, and several layers of clothing, I’m still cold! Coming from a country where our coldest temperature hovers between 12 and 18 degrees Centigrade, having to live in -14 degrees wasn’t a joke at all! I live in a flat owned by the university so they pre-set the heating to stay on all day but go off at 11:30 each night, even during winter! I had a panic attack one night when I woke up in the middle of the night and felt like I was literally going to die! In fairness, last winter was the worst the United Kingdom has seen in twenty years; just wonder why it had to happen in my time!

4. Brace yourself. I’m giggling, because I didn’t have anyone to tell me about this, and was constantly embarrassed whenever I saw it. What am I talking about? PDA – Public Displays of Affection. They’re everywhere — on buses, trains, in parks, at the mall, on the street, even in the library! You would think that young people would try to justify the fees they’ve paid by utilizing the time spent in the library productively but nooooo; it’s just another bedroom! That first day, I watched the urchins in the library, smiled and played out the same scenario in Nigeria (if anyone there had the nerve to try it)! An older person would reprimand them, send them out of the library, then inform the parents of both parties!

5. Don’t be afraid/ashamed/too proud to ask questions, be it in class, the mall, post office, clinic, even on the street (just make sure the person is uniform). My tutors are the nicest people ever, and I think it’s a prerequisite for employment at the university for all employees to be helpful. I know how many times I’ve received help, especially in my early days when I couldn’t get around much on my own. My questions are answered so kindly, and even when I know the person would rather not, they still do it with a smile.

I interrupt this list to announce that the original letter I sent to my girl ended only when I ran out of ink (some 600 pages later). If my memory serves me right, Lois asked for an article, not a book (yet) so I’ll do all of us a favour and fast forward to the last point.

1. The university brochure said the plan was to make me a social media consultant both in title and in deed. They were right; eight months into the course, I’m confident of my abilities! Although it’s sad to admit, that’s the major difference about studying here; you can take their words to the bank!

So, this is the verdict: while I miss my family, friends, and the life I had in Nigeria, I’ve settled in nicely. The opportunities here for practical learning are enormous! I love it!