TEXT BY LOUIS OGBERE

This was the one-millionth time I was being asked these questions. I was out on lunch with a mutual friend in the city center. We were in a restaurant surrounded by smartly dressed people on their lunch break from work. I leaned forward, cleared my throat, and then began to reel out the same answers I had given to the nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-ninth persons before my friend. Well, I exaggerate the numbers, but you get the point. You’ve probably lost count of how many people have asked you similar questions so far, if like me, you are an international student studying at Umeå university.

I remember the first time I was asked a variation of these questions. I was a freshly minted international student. Off from my departure flight from Lagos and ushered to my dream destination and then invited to a party organized by a group of international students. I kid you not when I say the party was truly international. I counted amongst the guests, twenty-three nationalities. Twenty-four if you include me then. Amidst blaring music and our dancing to Syzz and Dua Lipa’s songs, I repeated my answers five times to a different group of my newfound friends.

Right after the email for my admission dropped, I had gone on a WhatsApp group chat and listed the reasons why I and the rest of Umeå university admitted students in the group should be proud of being prospective students. It wasn’t a long list; it was made up of just four points. For the sake of context, I have reproduced the exact reasons here: • The programs in USBE are AACSB accredited (it is the third university in Sweden to be accredited by the body). • The former Swedish Prime Minister, Stefan Löfven, is an alumnus of the university, and also are two other ministers in his cabinet: Ibrahim Baylan &

Amanda Lind. • The university boasts top-notch research facilities and support. The winner of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Emmanuelle Charpentier, made her groundbreaking discovery in the laboratory at the university. • The university has over sixty nationalities represented in its student population.

When I tell my friend all of these, he could only swallow and then asked the second most- asked question since I arrived here: Did you consider the weather? I smiled, shelving my answer as a story for another day.

So, there you have it. I am turning the table now and asking you: Why Umeå? Why Umeå university? Why USBE?

Louis Ogbere