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| Buttrick Hall, Agnes Scott College |
They say being a student is the
most interesting, entertaining and gripping period of your life. Both my mum
and dad, for example, recall the times when they were university students with
unconcealed pleasure and joy. Personally, my university life was always
peaceful and days passed preparing for classes and having fun with friends.
However, it all changed when I got a letter on a sunny afternoon May 2012, a
letter saying I was accepted to Agnes Scott College as an exchange student for
a year. I was literally thrown away from my usual peaceful life pace as I
started looking for any information about Agnes Scott. As a matter of fact, the
scholarship program I applied to did not allow its applicants to choose the
place of study. Thus, when I got the letter with Agnes Scott’s name I had no
idea what the college was like or where it was situated. It all happened eight
months ago, eight months that transformed curious unconfident girl from a tiny
country in the very heart of Central Asia to an independent woman with a clear
vision of her life. My name is Nagima, I come from Kyrgyz Republic and I am
here to share my experiences as an exchange student at Agnes Scott College.
Firstly, I would like to tell you
about getting ready to go to Agnes Scott College. Actually, I did not have an
opportunity to surf the Internet for hours, as I was working during the summer.
However, I researched Agnes Scott, Decatur, Atlanta and Georgia. I was surprised
to learn that Agnes was a college for women! This fact was directly associated
with strict female boarding school. I thought Agnes would be a very
conservatively built society. Then I have read about campus, its old and
sophisticated buildings with towers. This fact made Agnes look like a school
for young fairies and magicians, or something else (maybe from Harry Potter as
well). The turning point of my research on college was when I learned Big
Momma’s House 3 was filmed on the ASC campus. Of course, I rushed to watch the
film. Moreover, I liked the campus in the movie and liked the image it gave
about the college life. Plus, I watched the videos about the dormitories and
only then stopped worrying about my future study abroad experience. Finally,
one factor that helped me a lot was correspondence with my host advisor from Agnes
Scott; she was very nice and answered each of my countless questions.
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| Piedmont Park, Atlanta |
Secondly, I was extremely
interested in my host “off-campus” community. Decatur was the city I was going
to live in. Wikipedia told me this city had only 19,000 residents. I could not
imagine a city that small, as my hometown had more than 200,000 people.
However, one thing I loved was Decatur’s proximity to the city of Atlanta. I
knew a lot about Atlanta and never knew I would ever spend a year right next to
it! Now I know both Decatur and Atlanta pretty well for an exchange student and
can say a lot about both of them. Decatur is a small American city with its own
unforgettable, very peaceful atmosphere, many little restaurants and shops with
outstanding design. I love this town for being extremely safe and for neat
pretty neighborhoods. Decatur is also known as “city of schools, homes and
places of worship”, which is absolutely true!
Well, when it comes to Atlanta, my
English vocabulary is too poor to draw the proper image of the city to impress
you as it impressed me once! My love to the city started when I was driving to
Decatur from Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and saw the
skyline. The Coca-Cola World, Georgia Aquarium, CNN Headquarters, Martin Luther
King Jr. Center, Atlanta Botanical Gardens are the top places to visit.
However, every time I go to Atlanta I discover it from the new side. Piedmont
Park is my favorite place to go so far. Atlanta is the biggest city in the
South of the USA, so ASC is certainly lucky with the location.
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| Evans Dining Hall before Date Raffle, Agnes Scott College |
Well,
here I am, studying at Agnes Scott, the world for women. I get to meet lots of
amazing independent women and try to learn the best from them. Moreover, there
are around 900 students, which may seem to be a very small college. On the
other hand, this 900 people comprise the tight community that can support you
anytime and accept you just as you are. In my case, I never thought about being
discriminated or treated improperly, I never had any fear of inequality because
I was different. However, I was still surprised by Agnes community’s
hospitality, moreover, they taught me to cherish and never forget my identity,
my roots, and my home country. Next, the campus is more than just beautiful, it
looks magnificent! Our library and dining hall, for example, make you feel you
are studying in Hogwarts (I had a right feeling there was something from Harry
Potter)! Studying at Agnes is not easy, but then, it is a women college and you
are expected to be more focused. Ultimately, at Agnes you are taught to cherish
your femininity and work on your identity, this eternal question of “who am I ”!
I will
try my best to show Agnes as I see it, and wish future Agnes Scott College
International students the best of luck!
Faithfully yours,
Nagima Kulbaeva
Photos by Nagima Kulbaeva
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