Interview with Michael Bediako
By: Rhy Wiethe
It’s October, and with that being said, there’s a lot more to celebrate than just Halloween- it’s also diversity month! What have you done to celebrate? Eaten some exotic cuisine? Talked with a friend who represents a different culture than yours? Maybe even attended one of the many events WVU has hosted throughout diversity week? However you may have decided to celebrate, we can all agree on one thing, the learning and sharing of different cultures is essential to the health of our society.
To give a perspective on the diversity our campus has to offer, I interviewed Michael Bediako, a graduate assistant for Journalism 101 in the Reed College of Media. Michael is from Ghana and is in his second year of being in the United States and his graduate studies at WVU. After completing his undergraduate degree in Ghana and spending some time studying in Germany, he explained what it is like to work and study at a university in the States, “Here, being a G.A. [Graduate Assistant], you not only study, but you work along. Working here involves dealing with students, preparing lecture notes, handling student complaints, grading and entering grades, and all that. It builds you, you know, studying while creating a profile.” He then went on to elaborate how college in Ghana is all academic based, with exams being the only factor in their grading system. Unlike the many opportunities undergraduate students in the U.S. have to assist professors and gain valuable experience, Ghana’s college curriculum doesn’t extend past the walls of a classroom. “This will help you if you want to later in your career become a professor or an academic worker. This I would say is the greatest difference between where I’ve studied previously and in the U.S.”
After describing his experiences within academics, I asked him what the largest difference is between Ghana and the United States in general. “In Ghana, in my class, there were about two hundred or so students, and I remember there were only two or three Nigerians. These were the only foreigners. The rest of us were all from Ghana. When you come here, just go to the Mountainlair on a normal day during lunch. It’s like you’re at a U.N. conference. Everybody is pouring in from every direction, people from India, people from Asia, people who are Africans, people from Europe, people from everywhere. People from different races are just mixing and talking. It’s an experience that is very different than what I am used to,” Bediako colorfully described using elaborate hand motions to show the mixing of different cultures in the busy Mountainlair. He also compared his time in Germany and the U.S., “Living in Germany, there was some diversity, but in the U.S. there’s a bigger and wider kind of diversity.” According to Bediako, the diversity of the United States is what makes our country a unique and inviting place.
Getting a different perspective on what we consider as normal- our secondary education system and the diversity of our students at universities across the country- is one example of a way to educate yourself during this month long celebration of diversity. By simply trying something new or talking to someone who is proud of their unique culture can make a difference in how we view our incredibly diverse community. Bediako strongly encourages people to be open to sharing and receiving information about diversity. He is always open to talk about his own experiences if you want to email him or stop by his office in Room 107 of Martin Hall.
I hope we can all take a moment to appreciate our diverse population and challenge ourselves to participate in as many cultural events as we can throughout diversity month. By educating ourselves on the importance of being culturally aware, we can make the world a more accepting and friendlier place.