In conjunction with International Education Week, North Central State College (NCSC) held “A Taste of the World,” in which students, faculty, and staff celebrated the benefits of international education and sampled dishes representative of attendees’ home countries on Thursday afternoon.
NCSC President Dr. Dorey Diab spoke to the attendees about the importance of providing similar opportunities at NCSC that he received during his college experience.
A native of Lebanon, Diab came to the U.S. in 1979. He discussed the challenges of not knowing English while trying to take higher education courses in a foreign country. “If it wasn’t for the support that I received at the community college I went to in Cleveland, I would not be here,” he said. Diab added, “My strong belief is that if I was able to make it, then anyone else should be able to, too.”
Koffi Akakpo, Vice President of Business and Administrative Services, also addressed the crowd. Originally from Togo, Akakpo noted, “Whenever I go to Kenya, I have an accent; whenever I go to France, I have an accent; whenever I come to the U.S., I have an accent, so anywhere I go I have an accent—why, because everything now is global…The likelihood for our students to graduate and have a boss like me or Dr. Diab or someone who wasn’t born in the U.S. is nearly 60 percent. So getting our students used to other cultures is great benefit to all of us.”
Adjunct Faculty Aloys Kamwithi shared his personal experience of emigrating to the U.S. from his native country of Kenya. He came to the U.S. in 1996. Upon arriving, “What shocked me most was to walk down the streets of Mansfield and not see a single child in the streets because every child was going to school… I had never experienced that because I come from a village where kids go only to the eighth grade, that’s it,” he said.
Kamwithi advised, “Don’t forget where you’re coming from…my appeal to you is to do your best, study hard, and share your personal experiences here.”
Later in the event, everyone lined up to sample dishes representing the attendees’ home countries. Dishes representative of Egypt, Kenya, Mexico, Australia, and Thailand were among those laid out on the tables.
Tanit (Tony) Kriengsantikul prepared a stir-fry and vegetable dish, unique to his homeland of Thailand.
Kriengsantikul is one of the international students studying at NCSC. He had already acquired his MBA and hopes to pursue a doctorate, which he would use for a business or educational career, he said.
As this year is his first in America, he expressed how excited he was to see snow cover the ground.
James Moran is another international student at NCSC who attended the event. He is from England and came to the U.S. two years ago when he helped coach a summer soccer camp. His involvement at NCSC arose somewhat serendipitously. With his soccer camp, he traveled throughout the U.S., one of his stops brought him to Ashland.
While in Ashland, he visited some of the local community colleges, including NCSC, and ultimately decided that he wanted to attend the college in the fall. He is now pursuing a degree in liberal arts.
“Everyone has been really helpful,” he said. “I didn’t think I’d stay in the U.S., but I can’t ask for more.”
“If it wasn’t for the support that I received at the community college I went to in Cleveland, I would not be here,” he said. Diab added, “My strong belief is that if I was able to make it, then anyone else should be able to, too.”
