The third interview

The third interview


The Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Zaire, is a nation located in Central Africa, with a short Atlantic coastline. It is the third largest country in Africa by area after Sudan and Algeria and the 12th largest in the world. The Democratic Republic of the Congo – with its population of nearly 71 million,– is the eighteenth most populous nation in the world, and the fourth most populous nation in Africa, as well as the most populous officially Francophone country.

In order to distinguish it from the neighboring Republic of the Congo to the west, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is often referred to as DR Congo, DROC, DRC, or RDC (from its French abbreviation), or is called Congo-Kinshasa after the capital of Kinshasa (in contrast to Congo-Brazzaville for its neighbor). It also borders the Central African Republic and Sudan to the north; Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi in the east; Zambia and Angola to the south; the Atlantic Ocean to the west; and is separated from Tanzania by Lake Tanganyika in the east. The country enjoys access to the ocean through a 40-kilometre (25 mi) stretch of Atlantic coastline at Muanda and the roughly nine-kilometer-wide mouth of the Congo River which opens into the Gulf of Guinea.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo was formerly, in chronological order, the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Congo-Léopoldville, Congo-Kinshasa, and Zaire (Zaïre in French). Though it is located in the Central African UN subregion, the nation is economically and regionally affiliated with Southern Africa as a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

The Second Congo War, beginning in 1998, devastated the country, involved seven foreign armies and is sometimes referred to as the "African World War". Despite the signing of peace accords in 2003, fighting continues in the east of the country. In eastern Congo, the prevalence of rape and other sexual violence is described as the worst in the world. The war is the world's deadliest conflict since World War II, killing 5.4 million people.

Citizens of the DRC are currently among the poorest in the world, having the second lowest nominal GDP per capita. The Democratic Republic of Congo is currently the second poorest country in the world, ahead of Zimbabwe.

PREPARATION

          After I finished two interviews during two weeks ago I keep going to wait the third interview, which was supposed to be on Sunday, November 7th. But unfortunately, I could not do that because the person who will meet me apologized of me. He told me that who forget my appointment and he has many peppers have to do it. He asked me to do our interview on Sunday, November 15th. Actually I met in the library of the University of St. Thomas and he was already too busy.

 

Khalid: Hello Sir, who are you doing today?

Ismail: I am fine, what about you.

Khalid: I am very well. thanks.

Khalid: Could you tell me a little bit about yourself and your home?

Ismail: My name is Ismail sooka. I am from the Congo and the second born in my family of the six children, four boys two girls.

Khalid: What is your academic background? And what is your major?

Ismail: I graduated from the law school from the Congo in the year 2008 and am pursuing a master’s program in software engineering at University of Saint Thomas right now.

Khalid: When and where have you done your under-graduation?
Ismail: I did my undergraduate from 2004-2008 in the Congo.

Khalid: Why don't you study for this degree in your home country and why did you choose the United States of America?
Ismail: I chose the United State of America because there are way more educational opportunities than in the Congo in the field of computer technology that's why I chose to come here to the United State of America for my graduate program.

Khalid: Could you tell me some difference between American education and your home education?
Ismail: American education is more interactive where a student is also engaged in the learning process while in the Congo it mostly from the professor to the students, in other words students show up for classes and the professor teaches them what he has in his notice and goes away until the exam time when he examines what students have learnt in all the time he's been giving them notices to copy down and review them.

Khalid: What kind of good things do you know about America?
Ismail: Being law student, I really admire the constitutionalism that is so vibrant in the American society, in other words the respect for the rule of law. I really like it.

Khalid: How do you know about St. Cloud state University? Why this university and not other universities?

Ismail: I have a cousin who studied at University of Saint Thomas in 2002 and he graduated from here so that's how I came to know about University of Saint Thomas and he always talked about it as good school so that why I had to choose it and not other schools because now I can also attest to that because the professor-student ratio is really favorable where you can meet with the professor and get help easy compared if I had chose a very big school that would hard not give me the opportunity to interact with the professors more easily.

Khalid: Could you tell me a little bit about St. Cloud state University?
Ismail: University of Saint Thomas is very conducive in terms of studying because they have got a lot of academic support resources that would help you succeed should school become so tough for example, Academic counseling, writing center and the tutoring program which are very helpful for the success of the student when college become very challenging.

Khalid: How long will you study in the United States of America?
Ismail: Am expected to graduate in 2015 after my masters in software program and then I have hopes of applying to the law school of University of Saint Thomas for my Juristic Doctorate(JD) which supposed to be for 3 years so I may say that I have 8years from now 2010-2018 to be done with my educational goals.

Khalid: Do you have any relatives here or in the United States of America?

Ismail: Yes I have relatives who live in Washington DC.

Khalid: What are your resources to pay your university charges?
Ismail: I am on my government's scholarship with partners with the current president's office to get the Congo students with exceptional abilities academically to further their education and go back to develop the country more efficiently.

Khalid: What will you do after you go back to your home country?
Ismail: I hope to start up my own law firm and an information technology company back in the Congo to develop my own capacity to deal with the communication challenges that face my country in this digitalized generation.

Khalid: Do will you go home during Christmas holiday? Why?
Ismail: No, because I will be preparing to go on my study abroad program in London for spring 2011.

Khalid: What are your career goals?
Ismail: I want to be an intellectual property lawyer. This is a person who deals with legal issues concerning copy right, innovations and so on...

Khalid: Where do you see yourself in fifteen years later?
Ismail: I am seeing myself as a very successful lawyer and a technological expert at the same time who has got my own law firms and information technological company running well in the Congo and may be taking root in other countries around the world.

Khalid: Do you have any achievements? What is it? 
Ismail: Am a pround lawyer for one of the most famous judges in the Congo who used to sit on the supreme court of the Congo but he retired last year when he reached his retirement age of 75 years . I very much take pride in it to have served the highest respected Judge in the Congo who by the way lobbyed for my scholarship to come and study in the United states at a given extent.

Khalid: Before we finish this interview do you have any word or advice for international students?
Ismail: My advice to the international studies is to focus on what's important to their goal of coming in the United State of America, make good friends who will make a positive impact in their lives, be active at all times and use their time while here very profitably in order not to regret later.