Every year, Ashesi welcomes a unique set of students from across Africa to join our community on campus. This year has been no different, yet there are undertones of unusual excitment. With 26% of students coming from outside Ghana, and the fact that the class will pioneer Ashesi's Engineering program, there is keenness to see how our new students will influence campus culture.
From move-in weekend, through to the Parent’s Welcome event, on to student orientation this week, families have already started building their Ashesi experiences, and are full of expectations. “I am highly excited for my daughter to have the opportunity learn in such an environment,” said parent Samuel Amenhia. “I’m hopeful about her future, now that I see this special network she has become a part of.”
For their first week, Ashesi’s freshmen will be taken through a thorough and exciting Orientation Week. They will be taken through the various ins and outs of Ashesi, and given a primer on making the best of the four years ahead. “While I’m here, I hope to imbibe some of the virtues that we have discussed during orientation thus far,” said Delasi Joy Dafeamekpor ‘19. “I want to develop my character better and learn to embrace diversity. I am actually excited to start schoolwork.”
The first day of Orientation Week ended with the annual Calabash Ceremony, organized by the Ashesi Student Council, where freshmen are served water in calabashes by upperclassmen. “In Ghana, traditionally when people come to your homes, they are welcomed with a drink of water,” said Ewurabena Hagan, Vice President of the Ashesi Student Council. “We do this to symbolize our respect for culture, and to show that the students are now a part of our community!”