From Atlas Mountains to the Midwest: Why Augustana College was worth leaving everything I knew

Being an international student means carrying pieces of home with you wherever you go. It also means knowing when it’s time to let go of comfort and chase something deeper.

Before I came to Augustana College, I pursued the first three years of my undergraduate journey at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, a royal university perched in the Atlas Mountains, where the architecture mimics Swiss chalets and the standards are elite.

On paper, it seemed like I had it all: prestige, comfort and opportunity. But inside, something definitely was missing. I was hungry, not for credentials, but for meaning. I needed to strip myself of everything that I have ever known, to unlearn and rebuild myself from ashes like a phoenix.

I wanted a place where curiosity, not conformity, would be my light.
 

I felt stuck in a royal bubble 

My grandma told me that there is a strange weight that comes with success when it doesn’t align with your spirit. She was right.

Yes, I was safe. By some standards, I was even thriving. That was very silencing. I began to feel like a well-decorated shell. The place I was supposed to find myself turned out to be highly hierarchical and subtly performative. I was trying my best to fit in, sacrificing parts of my authenticity in the process.  

I wasn’t failing. I was doing well. But I was stagnating. My creativity no longer sparked anything within me. Everything felt transactional, like black-and-white footage looping in my memory.

I couldn’t question my future steps, it didn’t matter. I was constantly questioning if this is the version of myself that I wanted to become.

I didn’t fear I was stuck. What scared me was accepting that I needed to leave something familiar behind.

I followed the spark

I wish my process has been as easy as waking up and picking a college from a bowl of names, and calling it a day. I didn’t decide to transfer to a college across the world overnight. It all started with a small whisper.

I reached out to friends who had studied abroad, trying to test the waters outside of Morocco. Some of them mentioned Augustana College, a small liberal arts school in the American Midwest. In their stories, I saw nothing but warmth. They were thriving, both academically and personally. I couldn’t help but be curious about the place that helped my friends grow.

Still, doubts lingered… How could a junior with 85 credits start over? Would transferring mean losing everything in a system I didn’t fully understand?

What surprised me the most is that the more I researched about Augustana, emotions started to build within me, I felt excited. I sat with that realization: I haven’t lost everything. I was still capable of feeling these emotions and creating something entirely new out of them. A brand new self.

The application process was surprisingly smooth. Despite never meeting any of the staff, faculty and advisors in person, I felt so seen. The emails were warm, and the people from Augustana weren’t just answering my questions — they were welcoming me.

My spark was transformed into a flame that would light the whole tunnel.
 

I chose Augie. I chose myself.

What drew me to Augustana wasn’t just the campus or the educational curriculum — it was the intention behind it all. A place where students weren’t expected to fit into boxes, but were invited to explore their identity, purpose and ambitions.

I won’t romanticize the transition process. There were real moments of cultural dissonance, academic confusion and emotional fatigue. I had days when missing home physically ached. But every challenge helped me grow. I had to go through this discomfort to begin finding pieces of myself again.

Once I did, I didn’t hesitate to hold all the hands that reached to me here. Every part of the Augustana faculty, staff and student body was present, ready and excited to help me gather what I thought I’d lost.

Professors remembered my name and were genuinely intrigued by my ideas. My new friends didn’t just accept me as I am, they were curious about it too! For the first time, I wasn’t shrinking to fit in. I was expanding.

I started creating again — writing, singing, reflecting, celebrating and dreaming. The world was no longer closing in. It was opening up.
 

It’s never too late to grow

It’s easy to believe that our progress is linear and our decisions control the trajectory of our whole life. That once you start something, you have to see it through even if it no longer nourishes you. But I’ve learned that no cycle ends without another opening its door. A decision to change is not failing, it’s freedom.

You are allowed to leave. You are allowed to change your mind. You are allowed to begin again.

Augustana didn’t rescue me, it reminded me I was allowed to rescue myself.