The Nicholls community is populated with exchange students from various countries across the globe. Nnamdi Ezema, accounting sophomore from Kingston, Jamaica, is one of them. Ezema said coming to Nicholls was not a difficult decision for him. His oldest brother, Ugo, already attended college at Nicholls, while Ebby, his other brother, was about to start when Nnamdi was a junior in high school. Ezema’s guidance counselor also spoke to him about Nicholls.
“They have an amazing accounting program, so all signs were pointing to Nicholls,” Ezema said.
While many students may find the distance between home and school daunting, being away from home for school is nothing new for Ezema.
“I had gone to a boarding high school in Jamaica, and then I finished high school in Jamaica, so being away from home has somewhat become the norm,” Ezema said.
But being away from home so often does have its disadvantages. Ezema said he misses his family the most while he is away.
“Family is very important to me,” Ezema said, “so any time spent with family as far as I’m concerned is time well spent.”
Besides the distance, Ezema said he loves everything about Nicholls except “that they don’t have a men’s soccer team. Nicholls would be perfect if they had a men’s soccer team.”
Ezema said the biggest difference between Louisiana and his home is the accents.
“I’m not sure people can understand me,” Ezema said. “Sometimes I feel like they need to make a Rosetta stone for Louisiana, because sometimes I struggle to understand people.”
Other than Louisiana, Ezema has visited Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Rhode Island, Houston and Hartford. He would like to visit Florida, California and Michigan. He would also like to visit Europe.
“It has so much history, and I love to learn about the past,” Ezema said. “Second for soccer, if by any chance I get to Europe, I am trying out for every soccer team in Europe til I make one.”
Ezema said he loves being at Nicholls because it offers so many opportunities.
“Everyone can live the American Dream,” Ezema said. “You can go from a nothing to something in a matter of days. Ask Justin Beiber, he knows.
