Looking at Ivan Nsubuga Mwesigwa, a senior biology-chemistry major, typing away at one of the computers at the Success Center, one cannot easily tell that four years ago he barely knew how to use a computer. Mwesigwa came to Manchester with no idea of what to expect from a liberal arts college in the United States. He grew up in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, always envisioned furthering his studies in America but did not anticipate the cultural shock that would come with it.

“The weather was the worst adjustment,” he says. “As a freshman I think I was sick every two weeks.” But that’s not all. “The food was a complete challenge” he says. “I lost quite a bit of weight in the beginning because I was skeptical about eating.”

He chose Manchester on a recommendation by his cousin Allan Galiwango, a Manchester alumni now based in Seattle. Mwesigwa notes that also the small size campus attracted him a lot; he knew this would help him make friends faster since he was bound to see the same people over and over again. The generous financial aid was another factor as Manchester gave him the most out of all the other colleges he had applied to.

Technology was initially an issue for Mwesigwa. He was not used to having to use computers for 90 percent of his work, plus the professors in his classes used it a lot for PowerPoint presentations.
“All my homework and papers had to be typed out, double spaced and in MLA format,” he says. “I did not even know that there was a format for writing a paper; it took me a while to adjust to that. I quickly had to learn how to use Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint.

Mwesigwa also soon learnt that email was a major means of communication across campus and for a boy who used to check his email about once every two weeks in Uganda, he soon realized that he had to check his email about five times every single day in order to “survive.”
Mwesigwa attributes his quick assimilation to the American system to his first roommate Jeff Grabowski.

“Jeff was like my guardian angel during my first year in college and made the hard adjustments as easy as possible for me,” he says. “I was shy and reserved but Jeff helped to make me more outspoken and taught me the American way of doing things really quick.”

Mwesigwa has no regrets about his college years. “This has been a very good experience in my life,” he says. “It will always have an impact on me. I have been involved in so much and taken advantage of every single thing that Manchester College has to offer.”

Mwesigwa also says he has learnt how to respect people from various backgrounds. He has gotten different perspectives on many learning styles, he has learnt how to use various technologies, he has acquired useful knowledge from the general education courses he had to take at Manchester and has made lifelong friends.

But he does have a couple of bemused memories. “While I will not call them regrets, there are still some hurdles I still have to cross,” he says. “The cold weather and driving on the right side of the road are still challenges.” (He was used to driving on the left side of the road in Uganda.)

Even though he has enjoyed his time at Manchester, Mwesigwa beams with excitement when contemplating his future plans.

“I have very big plans,” he says with an even bigger smile. “I plan to take one year off before going to medical school. In that one year I intend to shadow as many medical practitioners as possible as advised by my mentor.”

Ten years from now he hopes to be an anesthesiologist because of the experience he had working in that field through an internship with the Indiana School of Medicine. The climax of his goals will be to go back to Uganda or any other African country and set up his own medical practice there.

“The main reason I came to America in the first place was to be educated here but go back home and apply the skills there,” he says. “I feel like I owe my motherland the chance to make its medical services better because that is where the most help is needed.”

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