Studying in a foreign country can be very challenging, but one thing I always tell myself is that trials come with solutions, and once I figure out a solution to the problem, I consider myself a winner. As a foreign student studying tourism in one of the universities in this beautiful country, I have, and continue to face obstacles — the toughest one being language barrier. It is common knowledge that many people in Rwanda are not very fluent in English. At the start, communication was very difficult for me since I did not know a single word in Kinyarwanda, and the worst part was that local lecturers chose to explain almost everything in Kinyarwanda. Being an English-speaking student, they believed that I, among many others, would get through the notes with ease on our own, which was wrong. But I chose not to look at this as a setback, rather, find a solution —and that was to learn Kinyarwanda. After a lecture, some students would approach me and ask to help them find accurate words in English, and I always asked them to speak to me in Kinyarwanda as that was the only way I was going to learn. I try to express myself in the local language even when I do not know the right words, which naturally, makes them laugh. But that does not deter me, because communicating with them in Kinyarwanda has really helped me a lot. I am not saying I am now an expert, but it has really improved. Then there was the issue of fitting in. Integrating into a different culture with new people is really not easy, but the moment I decided to study in a foreign country, I knew what to expect — the way people behave, the language, to the way they socialise was so new to me. I used to get nervous around them, but not anymore. The only thing I could do in this situation was be myself and I did not care if anyone didn’t ‘understand’ me. My new friends were eager to know more about my culture and I also joined some clubs. As they say, ‘birds of a feather, flock together’, I found many students in those clubs with whom we shared so much in common — and with this, I fit right in. Like I said, every challenge has a solution and if I cannot find a solution, it only means that it wasn’t a challenge. I try not to be distracted by things that do not really matter and I never let any challenge discourage me from fulfilling my dreams. I choose to stay focused, always.
