6 COURIER • NOVEMBER 30, 2012 6

FEATURESThe Real Meaning of the HolidaysPhilosophy professor brings in CCIP student to celebrate Thanksgiving

COD’s Community College Initiative Program, sponsored by the US Department of State, gives international students the opportunity to study at the college and further develop their education, leadership, and pro-fessional skills while becoming familiar with the English lan-guage. For one year these stu-dents take a full set of courses. The 12 CCIP students at COD this year are from Brazil, Egypt, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Paki-stan and South Africa and are studying applied engineering, business, computer informa-tion technology, architecture/building technology and MPTV. This year, CCIP asked staff members if any of them would like to volunteer to be a “so-cial host” for one of the stu-dents, which means they would commit to one or two days of contact with the student each month, which might include a home-cooked meal, a local outing or an invitation to a

holiday or family celebration. Philosophy and religious stud-ies teacher for seven years now, John Santiago decided he would reach out and be a social host. “It’s a great way to pro-vide a connection for them to the holidays and give them a deeper sense of life here,” com-mented Santiago, who has his Ph.D. in philosophy from UIC. Santiago was happy to become friends with 22 year-old interna-tional student, Tshediso Berries who arrived in Illinois on Aug. 2 from Free State, South Africa. Berries earned his scholar-ship to study at COD during his last year in college at Goldfields FET College in Welkom, Free State, South Africa, a college similar to a community college. Within the next two years, he will earn his Bachelor’s degree in engineering. He is current-ly enrolled in a heavy load of courses including Building Material, Construction Meth-ods, and Entrepreneurship. “One of my biggest dreams is to have my own construc-

tion business and contribute to the economic development of South Africa,” said Ber-ries when asked on where he sees himself in the future. Berries enjoyed his first Thanksgiving with the Santia-go family last week and was in awe of all of the delicious, tra-ditional Thanksgiving foods. “The food was amazing! I’ve never been so stuffed.” He also really admired the sense of family he felt with the Santiagos and appreciated the family values they projected. “I learned that Thanksgiv-ing is a holiday where Amer-ican families celebrate what they have and live in the moment,” added Berries. “I was overwhelmed with all of the generosity and kindness.” Berries is living in an apart-ment near the college with three other boys from CCIP. During their free time they like to play soccer together and watch mov-ies. They’ve also attended con-certs, plays, visited Navy Pier,

and went to a corn maze for Halloween. He also mentioned how all 12 of the CCIP students are a very close group of people. There are a few things about America that stand out to Berries. “Where I’m from, only people with decent jobs own cars and there is usually one per fam-ily. Here, it seems that every member of the family has there own car,” explained Berries. “In my town everyone gets around by bicycle.” The city was excep-tionally special to visit for Berries, because he is pas-sionate about engineering and what he’s studying. Overall, America is much better than he expected and he is looking forward to spending Christmas with the Santiagos along with other family gath-erings. Santiago is very much into race car driving so the two are excited to go to a race track together sometime soon.

Tshediso admired the buildings in Chicago, as he is passionate about engineering.

PhoTo CourTesy of TshedIso BerrIes

The santiagos welcomed the Berries into their home for Thanksgiving.PhoTo CourTesy of John sanTIago

From Syria to Glen Ellyn: One student’s journey

Rosalie Deastis feaTures edITor

Rosalie Deastis feaTures edITor

Osama Ai Hamwi’s story isn’t your typical student’s story. Most grew up in a surrounding town of the college with a nor-mal American family life and schooling. On Sept. 26, 1991, Osama was born in Damascus, Syria where he grew up with his three sisters and brother. He played soccer as a child and went to a high school

where students take over ten subjects a semester. Where Osama comes from, the educational system determines your career/major for you. Basically, the scores you earn on your high school finals dictate your future. Ai Hamwi believed he had more potential than these tests proved, so he decided to come to the United States for his senior year of high school. He went to Hinsdale South where his hard work lead him

to a 4.7 GPA. This gave him the tools he needed to pursue a dentistry career back in Syria. So in 2009, he had gradu-ated high school and went on to the International Universi-ty of Science and Technology, which was around 45 minutes away from his home in Syria. Within two years though, the Syrian civil war currently going on had escalated and Ai Ham-wi’s parents encouraged him to return to the states to continue

his studies. On Sept. 10 of this year, he moved in with his sister in Willowbrook to attend COD. “My counselor from Hin-sdale South told me that this college would be a great choice for me to get my career start-ed,” commented Ai Hamwi. Osama is now taking Chemistry, Pre-Calculus, and grammar classes. He plans on visiting UIC, Benedictine, Loyola, and many other schools to decide where