When You Have to Engineer More Than Just Coursework
Before coming to Türkiye from Lesotho, I did not fully understand how much studying engineering would demand beyond textbooks and lectures. After completing my first semester in Mersin, I’ve come to realize that this journey has been as much about self-discovery as it has been about academics.
At Mersin University, engineering is demanding on its own—but learning it in Turkish, a language I am still mastering, quietly intensifies the experience. Every lecture requires deeper concentration. Every explanation demands attentiveness. You are not only learning engineering—you are learning through a new language.
As a first-generation student, I arrived with determination but without a clear blueprint. I believed that intelligence, discipline, and long study hours would be enough. Over time, however, I began to notice how quickly time moves when you are abroad. No matter how early I woke up or how carefully I structured my days, weeks slipped away. That was my first real realization: it is no longer just intelligence that matters—time does too.
Get Keabetsoemanosa’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
Slowly, another tension revealed itself. Do I focus all my energy on surviving an already demanding curriculum in a foreign language, or do I intentionally stretch myself further—learning skills outside the classroom to prepare for the competitive world after graduation? With limited time and energy, it often feels like choosing between stability and preparedness.
For many students, this might be a simple decision. For a first-generation student, it rarely is. There is an unspoken urgency that follows you everywhere—a quiet reminder that you are not just studying for yourself. Every semester carries weight. Every opportunity feels consequential.
What I have learned so far is that studying abroad changes how you relate to time, effort, and responsibility. Being far from home means navigating unfamiliar systems alone, making decisions without inherited guidance, and learning through trial and error. Comfort becomes tempting, but intention becomes necessary.
By the end of my first semester, I’ve learned to respect this pressure rather than resent it. It has sharpened my discipline, shortened my sense of time, and made long-term thinking feel more natural. Switching between being a full-time engineering student and an intentional skill-builder is exhausting—but it has quietly become part of who I am.
I didn’t set out expecting these lessons. But somewhere between learning engineering in Turkish and learning life in Mersin, I realized that coursework is only half the journey. The rest is learning how to engineer yourself.
