After being accepted to Jamestown Community College, I was getting ready to study 11,000 km away from home. It meant a new culture, new people, new places, new friends, and everything new for me. I was a bit anxious before I came to the USA, but after traveling a few days in NYC, I became accustomed. In the international orientation, I made new friends. People at JCC were so kind to me. I’m so happy that I have chosen JCC!

First experiences at JCC

During my first two weeks at JCC, I experienced many amazing things. On the 14th of September, I went to Niagara Falls, which is two hours away from Jamestown, with almost all international students. The view was gorgeous. We had a great time there. We traveled on a boat to the bottom of the Falls, which was crazy! Another thing that I experienced was having dinner with an American family. My roommate invited me to dinner with his family and we had a fun time. We talked about everything; compared our countries’ customs and traditions, about America’s history, how the weather was there, and of course where Turkmenistan was. People here are very kind so it’s easy to find new friends.

On the first day of college, I met Thomas, my buddy from Germany. We hung out a lot and found a mutual language. In the 2nd month of my first semester, we’ve traveled to Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Buffalo. One time Ben, Thomas, and I went fishing, but unfortunately, we couldn’t catch and fish.

JCC academics

Now let’s talk about academics! I’m majoring in computer science at JCC. Honestly, sometimes I’m struggling with my homework due to some language barriers. To overcome this problem, I’m studying hard and as a result, I’m doing well in my classes.

One of the main reasons that I came to JCC is because the U.S is the best teaching place for my major. Also, JCC is part of SUNY, which means I can easily transfer my credits to other SUNY schools and transfer there after two years.

Extracurricular activities

At Jamestown Community College, every student can find their favorite activities. For example, in the physical education building, students can engage in sports. Usually, I go to the swimming pool and gym. Sometimes I also go to the music department and play the piano in my free time. Every week at JCC, campus life staff are organizing events for students. For example, they organized the Halloween party for students, where all of us had fun.

About this post’s author:

I’m Suleyman Eminov, a freshman student at JCC. I’m from Turkmenistan, a country in Central Asia. Here at JCC, I’m majoring in computer science. I came to the United States because it’s the best place to study computer science. I have been studying English starting from 8th grade (5 years) at the education center in my city. I hope I will get a bachelor’s (and maybe a master’s) degree in computer science and will be able to open my own technology company in the future!

For more information:  Jamestown Community College SUNY