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Chinyere Onwubiko, a student with the “Victor Babes” University

Chinyere Onwubiko is 26 years old and she was born in a city in southeastern Nigeria. She is now in the 3rd year at the “Victor Babes” University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Timisoara (in the west).

Luana Pleşea, 02.04.2015, 14:36

She will next tell us why she decided to study abroad: “I could have studied at home. I have always dreamt of being a doctor. After graduating from high school I wanted to leave the country, because I had grown tired of it. I like adventure and Romania was not my first choice. But I was curios to see what living in Romania was like and then I decided to stay for good”.

But how did she come to study in Timisoara: “It’s an equally interesting and amusing story. When I wanted to choose a faculty from Romania, I went through an entire list of names. I associated the name “Victor Babes” with the English word “babes”. And I like babies, I love them and I would like to specialize in pediatrics. I was happy to find a school having the name “babes” in its title and I decided to go here. When I arrived in Romania I spent several weeks in Bucharest and people wondered why I preferred a faculty in Timisoara instead of one in the capital city. I answered that I wanted to study in Timisoara because there I was going to work with children. But once in Timisoara I discovered there were no children at the Victor Babes faculty. (She laughs). That’s how I chose to study in Timisoara. And I like it. It is a small and nice city, unlike Bucharest, which is big and crowded, something I actually don’t like. I don’t like to spend much time in crowded cities in my own country either. I like Timisoara. It feels like home”.

After only 3 years in Romania, Chinyere speaks Romanian very well, although she admits she found it hard to learn the pronunciation of words, the vocabulary and grammar. As to the medical terminology, she prefers using the Latin and Greek terms.

Chinyere Onwubiko: “Learning the language was the most difficult thing for me. When I arrived in Romania I didn’t know a word in Romanian but I had a very good, nice and efficient teacher. And she made all students in my group work hard. But it was not easy at all, and it’s still not easy”.

Chinyere says she feels at home in Banat, where people are kind, friendly and openhearted. Asked what she enjoys the most in Timisoara she gave a surprising answer: “It may sound strange but I like the weather. I like cold weather. I was the happiest person in the world when I saw snow for the first time. I think it’s wonderful! I went out and took some pictures and then sent them home. I read about snow in books, I saw it on TV, in newspapers…but never in reality, until I came to Romania. Seeing snow for the first time was an unforgettable experience. I was in Straja where I took skiing lessons. I used to fall all the time at first, but I guess this is the most beautiful thing I have done since I came to Romania. I didn’t know there are such wonderful places in Romania. I had the chance to go on top of the city and get a bird’s eye view from there. Of course, I took many pictures and sent them home.”

Chinyere left behind in Nigeria her parents and 6 siblings, and she thinks she is the family’s only adventurer. But she enjoys her parents’ support and encouragement and she says she couldn’t do without them.

After finishing general medicine studies, Chinyere Onwubiko intends to return home in Nigeria: “It’s in Nigeria that I want to live and work. In Romania, in Timisoara, for instance, you have all you need. You have all kinds of physicians with various specializations. That is not the case in my country. That’s why I want to return home. My heart is still in Nigeria. I cannot tell why. I want to go back there and help people”.