- Bree Iheaso,
ISU junior political science major
NORMAL – When you think of California, you think of blazing sunshine, clear blue skies and beautiful people - the perfect place to relax and have fun. You would ask yourself why would anyone want to move from a perfect state?
ISU rarely get a student from the west coast, but this fall… from 2,139 miles away… ISU accepted a student from Pasadena California. Assumpta “Bree” Iheaso is a transfer junior who came to ISU to study Political Science.
Bree has never been to Illinois before, but she likes that she is in a new environment. She says she has noticed multiple differences between the West Coast and the Midwest; from the way people talk, to how they dress, all the way down to personality.
“I feel that the people in the Midwest talk a lot faster than the people from the West Coast, “ said Bree. “I feel that Chicagoan native speakers do not pronounce their words all the way; they cut their words off in mid-sentences.” For example, if someone was saying ‘I want to go to the store,’ Bree hears it as, ‘I wantogo store.’
“Sometime I find it hard to keep up with some of the friends that I made here at ISU, but I love their culture and how they stay true to themselves,” said Bree. Besides speaking fast, she feels that Chicagoan native speakers pronounce their words “hard.” For example, “in California, I hear ‘interesting,’ but in the Midwest, it sound like ‘inTEResting,’ In California, people speak more relaxed… like a slower more calm pace. So I hope I can speak a medium pace since I already speak slowly,” Bree stated with a laugh.
Before Bree transferred, she would always dress up for class, but ISU has a totally different way to dress. “I notice that people here walk around in sweats all day, but I’m not used to wearing clothes like that,” said Bree. “Every time I went to class, my roommates would ask me why I was so dressed up, and all I would have on is a dress and a blazer.” Bree got tired of her roommates asking her that question, so she decided to tone down the way she dresses.
Midwest people tend to have a very “strong” personality and some people feel only Midwesterners can handle another Midwesterner. “I notice that the girls out here are very outspoken. Sometime I feel like I have to watch what I say so I don’t offend anyone.” Bree said. “Maybe Midwesterner girls are strong and don’t want people to walk over them so they put up a defensive guard.
“I really don’t see a difference in the guys,” she paused and laughed, “both Cali guys and the guys here can be a tad immature, but they are still cool.”
In any part of the world, boys will always be boys. ..
Being over two thousand miles away from home, Bree does not regret coming to the Midwest. “I never regret anything I do,” she said. “I do miss home a lot sometimes… but I call that part the learning process. I don’t like how different it is, but I like the experience that I’m being exposed to out here.
“The thing I really do miss about California is the hot weather. I’m not used to the kind of weather (we get here) but I’m looking forwarded to seeing real snow for the first time.”
In the near future Bree hopes to attend law school in Chicago. She hopes to attend Loyola University Law or University of Chicago Law. She feels being in the Midwest is a learning process, she hopes to learn from the people here and use what she learns in the future –to be able to evolve and adapt to any environment she is in.