Name: Kenza Lyagoubi
Major: Business student double majoring in Finance and Marketing
Country: Morocco
Languages: Arabic, French and English.
“When I first enrolled in my university back home, I was not sure about whether or not to go on an exchange program. Being part of the national swimming team when I was a teenager gave me the opportunity to travel a lot around the world and discover new countries and cultures. I have always been curious about the different traditions, religions and way of living of other people. I have never been to United States before and that was the main reason why I choose this country.
Going on an exchange program at USD was the best decision I have ever made. I had the opportunity to meet people of different nationalities, backgrounds and cultures, thus I learned a lot of their traditions, beliefs and practices. In addition to that I had the chance to discover an incredible country where people make it easy for you to integrate. During my stay, I didn’t feel like I was in a foreign country at all. California is known to be a melting pot of students from all around the world, but now I strongly believe that this diversity is their most valuable asset as this sharing of knowledge and information contributes greatly to the mightiness of United States. San Diego is a wonderful destination not only for its warm weather all year long but also for the way the citizens conceive life. It is a city where people live in the moment, where life is not moving fast and where you can easily adapt.
Compared with some other international students, I had no problem with USD’s system of teaching and grading since my university uses the same approach. What was really interesting was the diversity of classes offered, the quality of teaching and the competency of the professors. I had the chance to work and interact with some national companies in my marketing classes by presenting to them a lot of our ideas and this was something I have never done before. It was really interesting and exciting and I feel really lucky I had the opportunity to take these classes
All in all, I can assure without the shadow of a doubt that these past three months were the most wonderful and fruitful period of my academic life. I enjoyed every single minute of it, and I wish it never ended.”
-Kenza Lyagoubi