Privilege and Passports

What should students of similar backgrounds of identity as you be aware of before travelling or studying abroad in Scotland?  

Photo provided by Adwoa Aboah

When I decided to study abroad in the UK, I was so excited at the possibility of travelling Europe as it is something I have always wanted to do. I clearly did not do my research extensively enough and found that with a Ghanaian passport and the type of visa I am on in the UK, I will not be able to travel Europe or apply for a Schengen visa from the United Kingdom. I wish I had known this earlier so that I would have applied for the visa before arriving in the UK. This really opened my eyes into how extremely hard it is travelling anywhere with an African passport as I realized that a lot of my African friends were in similar positions. We spend so much money on visas and trying to prove that we will return to our countries. So many people from western countries do not have to do that because it is generally believed that these places are so great to live that anyone who leaves will definitely return. Whereas apparently everyone in countries such as those in Africa is running away. This makes travelling and experiencing the world extremely difficult and expensive for us.

Ghanaian Roots

Did any factors of your identity influence your decision to study abroad? Or, how you selected to study in Scotland?

My decision to study abroad in England was highly influenced by the fact that I’m Ghanaian. Ghana was colonized by the British and a lot of our culture and society was highly influenced by those of the British. I wanted to learn more about the British Empire and experience its society to see the similarities and the aspects of British culture and policy that has stuck with my country of origin. However, as much as I wanted to learn about the British empire, I also wanted a much more challenging experience and that is one of the reasons why I chose to study in Scotland instead of London. Scotland has also been trying to become an independent state from the United Kingdom and I felt that this will be an interesting time to be here and learn about this modern dissociation from the Empire.

Adulting at a Young Age

What is a key difference that you didn’t expect or anticipate between your host and home country?

One thing I have noticed in the people here that is very different from most of the people I have encountered in America but not so different from people in Ghana is that people grow up much much faster here. You find numerous 16 year olds living what is considered ‘an adult life’. You find numerous friend groups consisting of people of varied ages and a lot of young people working in shops and offices. In some ways, I think this makes people treat even ‘kids’ with a lot more respect. Personally, I think it has to do with the amount of responsibility handed to them at a young age. With university for example, students must commit to a career path before they even enter university and so from their very first day of university they are already working towards joining a specific industry. Although there are advantages and disadvantages to this system and I personally love my liberal arts education, people here are accustomed to this system and think about their futures and goals and aspirations at a much earlier age. Majority of students around the country also live on their own and living in dorms is actually not the norm so many students are self-sufficient from an early age. Lastly, here the drinking age is 18 so people get used to going to clubs and bars from an early age and figure out if that is a lifestyle they enjoy during this crucial teenage period of their lives rather than when they might be too old.