When she first moved here from Senegal, West Africa, Fatou Souare found that she needed to find a good school to finish her degree. She chose ANU for its convenience. Fatou had a smooth transition to ANU. “They accepted all my credits [from my previous school]… right way, I started the next semester.”
While here at ANU, Fatou took both online and on-campus courses. She had a positive experience with both classroom settings. Because of the small class sizes, she grew to know her professors well and received more in-depth learning. The flexibility of online classes helped her in her busy life as a mom. “When I was [working on] my bachelor’s degree, I had a baby, so… it was easier for me to do my online classes while taking care of my child,” she explains.
Fatou learned a great deal while attending ANU. In class, professors who were currently working in the class’s field of study taught her what she needed to know for her potential job and some basic skills that most other schools would not spend time talking about. For example, she remembers one professor explaining the importance of turning in a two weeks’ notice before leaving a job. “I didn’t know that coming from another country,” she explains, “but they put that in your mind.” Something that may seem very small can distinguish you from other potential employees. “[This information] is something that is good [to know] in life.”
Now graduated from ANU, she is currently working as an account manager at Staffmark. “This is my dream job that I was looking for,” she says. “This is why I went to school.” Recently, her skillset and hard work gave her the opportunity to achieve her goal in being promoted to account manager and gives her the ability to work toward any position she wants. She says, “Hopefully, in 10 years, I could be the branch manager.” Fatou also co-founded the Kentucky African Women’s Association, a non-profit organization that helps immigrants with their transition into American life.
Fatou said she encourages other international students to apply at ANU to obtain the skills needed in the United States workforce. “People [would] not give me a chance, usually just because of my accent… I [needed] to show them that… though I have an accent and I’m not from this country, I’m still smart and I got this degree to show it.”
