College Fair

Last month Education USA hosted a college fair in Mzuzu.  Six other northern volunteers and I represented our alma maters and educated over 450 Malawian students on what it’s like to study at a university in the states.

There were a wide range of students who came.  Some very ambitious students wanting to know how to become brain surgeons and judges, and others who asked: “what do I do here?”.  Some teachers weren’t much better, responding to that question with: “you’re here to collect the flyers”.  But that’s why I was there, to help clear up simple questions.

Other questions I was asked frequently were:

What courses do you have? 

It didn’t take me very long to memorize UC Davis’ four colleges, and if they offered accounting (they do).

What about scholarships?

Thankfully there was an entirely separate table I could refer them to.

What do I need to do to apply?

English competency exam, SAT score, and MSCE scores.

Though my favorite question was probably: “I want to major in sociology; what is sociology?”

Overall it was a good day connecting with kids and feeling helpful.  Not to mention the free lunch that EducationUSA provided for us!

And this here is why UCD is awesome.

Joan bubbly as ever.

Melissa and Jay nomming the free lunch!

Andrew dropping knowledge.