Cameroon student loves life in America

Published: December 12, 2011

Raoul Noubissi

Growing up in Cameroon, a small country in Central Africa, Lyon College junior Raoul Noubissi was raised in a completely different environment than most other college students.  

Raoul came to America from Cameroon two years ago and was playing soccer at Chabot College, a community college in the San Francisco Bay area in California. He transferred to Lyon College this fall to play for the soccer team.

“I think I’m lucky,” Noubissi said. “You can get a good education back home, but here you have a better chance because you have all the tools you need. 

 “I like the school and the teachers,” he said. “I think that the teachers are very qualified, and they’re smart and take care of you.  It’s not like a big school where the teachers don’t care. They really care about what you’re doing, and they give you good advice. And you have everything you need to succeed here. Everything is just perfect.” 

Noubissi is one of nearly a dozen international students at Lyon College. This year, the college has students from Brazil, Denmark, France, Iceland, Mexico, Peru, Rwanda and United Kingdom.

International students immediately notice difference between schools in their hometowns and colleges in the United States. 

Noubissi said there are major differences between U.S. colleges and the schools in Cameroon. 

“Central Africa is still developing,” Noubissi said. “We have smart people who want to study, but we don’t have the right infrastructure and money to get all of the materials that we need. And the classes are usually packed because there aren’t enough buildings or schools.”

Being in a new place hasn’t been all easy, though. Noubissi has had to make some major adjustments to his new environment.

“Everything is so different from where I’m from,” he said. “The people, the culture, the food, the music—all different. There are good and bad. You have to adapt.”

One of the things he has enjoyed about the school, and America in general, is the interaction with different kinds of people.

“I like that you can see different races and different types of people interacting with each other,” Noubissi said. “When you interact with people of different cultures, at the beginning you don’t know how to approach them — that’s how I felt at first. But now I have Japanese friends, black friends and white friends.”

As for schoolwork, Noubissi is adjusting very well to Lyon’s workload. And he has big plans for the future.

“I’m majoring in chemistry and mathematics,” he said. “I’m trying to do research in chemistry, but I still have a long way to go.”

Noubissi plans to continue his education after he graduates from Lyon.

“I’m going to go to grad school,” he said. “I want to work on quantum chemistry. I’m still looking around for grad schools, though.”

Though he loves it here in America, Noubissi said he plans to go back to and work in Cameroon sometime down the road.

“I want to eventually go back and work there,” he said. “I’ve got to go and give back to my country.”