First Impression: Kent State University
The Kent State University campus is a fresh, green place full of squirrels (black, in particular). The atmosphere by itself is mind-purifying, which I cannot say about the city in which I live, the industrial Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine.
I fell in love with my dorm room at first sight. The only thing I needed was my own bedroom. However, I obtained much more: a sink, many shelves, boards, a nice personal table to work, fridge, microwave, and air conditioner, as well! All I need to feel comfortable. Thank you, World Learning. I also like my roomie. He’s very quiet. This is exactly what I needed.
Kent State campus by itself is quite large. The first days were a little confusing. I have a really bad phone and it was hard to figure it out how to navigate around the different buildings without the KSUapp. At Kent State, there are many different buildings due to the enormous size of the university. I solved the problem using a simple paper map. It was not easy, however, interesting indeed.
Living in such a big territory with thousands of diverse people makes you feel like a part of something significant and special. Firstly, it may seem frightening: many different folks from all around the world and the majority of strangers are from America who are total foreigners for a Ukrainian guy. But, the fact is that all of them are trying to understand each other. So, everyone’s kind and most welcome. I loved downtown Kent, OH – narrow streets with red paving stones, cozy cafés, little traffic. So far, I have seen a park with a small waterfall and enjoyed the calming sound of water coming down. It is a great place to think and to gather strength and continue to keep on keeping on.
I don’t feel homesick at all. I’d like to live here, to start something from here. Though, I have some problems sometimes with talking to native speakers. Still, trust me when I tell you – I will be great. Let’s see, maybe I will return a certain time after the visa restriction, since I already feel here like at home. I won’t be pretending that I’m an extreme patriot like many flatterers do. My home is where the changes are and I can facilitate changes wherever I want. The thing is that back at home it will be hard indeed. Harder than here. However, I have never sought easy ways!
Written by Andrii Nenadov, 2018-19 Global UGRAD student from Ukraine at Kent State University