Ghana: Summary of Interview with Dr. Isidore Dorpenyo

Introduction

Dr. Isidore Dorpenyo was born and raised in Ghana before moving to the United States in 2010 to pursue higher education. After completing his bachelor’s degree in English in Ghana, he attended Michigan Tech where he completed his master’s and PhD degrees. After he finished school he got a job at George Mason University and began teaching here in 2016. He has been employed at Mason ever since. Since 2016 he has gotten married, had children, visited Ghana, and received tenure at the University. He hopes to become a full-time professor, “contribute to disciplinary knowledge,” and “give back to my country, friends, [and] my community”.

He received a bachelor's degree in English from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in 2008, a Master of Science in Rhetoric and Technical Communication from Michigan Technological University in 2013, and a PhD in Rhetoric, Theory and Culture from Michigan Technological University in 2016. After graduation he moved on to work at George Mason University, where he is now an Associate Professor.

Reasons for Moving

Dr. Isidore Dorpenyo made the decision to move to the United States in early 2010 to pursue his education. He says: “Yeah [I moved here] for school. Mainly for school. So, I got my bachelor’s, and then I got admitted to Michigan Tech to do my master’s. And then I finished with a PhD”.

“I got full funding from Michigan Tech, and then the program was appealing to me. I mean, after school [undergraduate] I was looking for a program that will enable me to combine language, because I did English, and then a bit of communication. And so, Michigan Tech’s program offered that, and I had full funding for it. So, I decided to give it a shot”. 

Reactions from Loved Ones

While he was planning to move from Ghana to the United States he experienced some positive reactions from those around him. “I mean most, I mean family members were excited for me. We had these good notions of America. ‘Oh, that’s a good country’. This is the way [they were] excited to hear that I’m coming to the U.S…. Yeah, they were really excited. Even that wasn’t negative, no negative reaction.”

Perceptions of the United States

Before moving to the United he had some previous perceptions of the country, albeit few. He mentions, “No, [I didn’t have any] particular perceptions. I mean, I have been watching American movies, and other things. Nothing much. I just knew that is was a country of immigrants. I knew that they [The United States] had a lot to offer people”.

Once he arrived, the United States did not match up with what he was originally expecting. He remembers, “When I was moving from Chicago to, I mean flying from Chicago to Houghton, Michigan, I didn’t really see any houses, tall houses, tall buildings, and others. Houghton is a rural setting. It’s like about seven thousand people. It’s a college town. So, about seven thousand to ten thousand [people], and I didn’t see any tall buildings or anything else and I was like ‘Are you sure I’m going to the U.S’. This is not the U.S. I have been seeing on TV. So, I was a bit disappointed that it wasn’t the U.S. I was expecting to see”. 

Life After Arrival

After arriving in the United States, he noticed how people around him treated him. He remembers, “I think one particular thing that shocked me was how the professors related with us. I mean, back in Ghana, it’s tough to call lecturers or professors by their first names. But the professors here were so nice. They asked you to refer to them by their first names and other things. I mean, community members were ready to help. I remember when…so, I’m in college right, so I didn’t have any, a lot of friends. So, one day I was just walking around. I was looking for the college church, so it was close by, but I didn’t know. So just walking around, and then when I got to the church, I saw priests and other people in there. Then he called me in: ‘Hey, how are you doing?’ I said, ‘I’m cold’. Right, I’m cold. And so, ‘Oh, yeah, come, sit down’. He was having some tangerines and other things, he offers some tangerines, he drives me home. He offers to let me stay in the chapel if I didn’t have anywhere to stay, to live. So, this was a nice moment. It was a good moment for me that will linger.”

The priest at the church at Michigan Tech was not the only person that helped him. There were others in the community that did as well. He says, “I mean colleagues right, and Ghanaian friends. I lived with a Ghanaian friend because my apartment wasn't ready, so I went to live with my Ghanaian friends. And after a while, a week or two, they were nice to me. I mean other community members were ready to help. Always ready to help. I think it's because of the rural setting right, so that community lifestyle is great unity, and some church people were nice. They'll chat with you.”

Challenges

When moving to the United States, Dr. Dorpenyo encountered different challenges. When talking about getting a visa, he shares: “I think the experience was really smooth. I think the only challenging part was getting an appointment for [the] visa…When I got the appointment I went. They even only asked about two or three questions, and that was it. So, it wasn’t [challenging]. The visa interview was smooth. I think the hard thing was getting a date for the interview. Apart from that, everything went on well.”

Another challenge that he experienced in the United States was the education system. He recalls it as the “...biggest challenge, in terms of teaching. I would say that adjusting to the culture here, and then the classroom culture. It was tough. It was tough. I think that the university system in Ghana is different. And it was hard for students to get access to their grades, get access to lectures and other things, so I noticed that the case was different here: students emailing you to know their grades; why they didn't perform really well, on assignments and other things… But I haven't had much of those these days. I only tell them to train their ears to listen to other voices right, and we all have accents. If you don't have an accent, you can't talk. But you can speak it in language. So, over the years I've gotten used to such complaints, I’m getting used to attitudes and trying to help my students understand them. Since that's the most important thing, and not so much focus on the grades, but focus on how to help them to achieve this in the academics. But in terms of documents, in terms of documentation, I didn't have much of a challenge.”

How Things Have Changed

Since moving to the United States and beginning work at Mason, things have improved for Dr. Dorpenyo. He says, “Oh, I mean definitely. It's improved. I mean I have a tenured job. I just got tenure; I’m married with three kids. Things have really improved, yeah compared to [before], for me”.

He has experienced great joy from his family: “My wife and my children. Yeah. I mean because we rarely go to school these days. We rarely see people these days. So, but my family, they are my source of joy”. 

Since arriving in the United States, he has only gone back to visit Ghana once. He remembers, “The last time I went home was 2017, when I went home to get married. That's all. I haven't been home ever since”.

Accomplishments

Dr. Dorpenyo also discussed his proudest moments since moving to the United States: “Oh, I'm proudest of that I’m tenured...and if you're in the academy, you know that the tenure process is rigorous, but tenure means a lot. So, I’m really proud that I’m tenured [and] that I did what I should do. I'm proud that I know people in our field, and people know me in my field, [and] that I’m trying to contribute to my discipline. I'm really proud. When I see scholars cite my work I feel very happy and fulfilled”.

Future Aspirations

Dr. Dorpenyo talked about his plans and wishes for the future. He plans to “...do my job. Do what I have to do. My hope is to become a full professional soon. So that's my aspiration, to be a full professor. And then just contribute to disciplinary knowledge. And if I have to give back to my country, friends, [and] my community. And if I have the means, I will do that. I've been really thinking about how to help people in Ghana.”

Message About Immigration

When asked about what he would say to those who don’t know very much about immigration to United States, Dr. Dorpenyo said, “I wish that people maybe knew about the educational system and then I mean issues of documentation. So, I worked on a paper recently, and I interviewed immigrants to see...their experiences with banking in the U.S. And most of them complained that the banking system was so rigid and tied everything to self, your status in the U.S., right? I think status is very important. And then, I wish people knew that. People think, 'Oh, it's smooth sailing here.' That all you [do is] come here, and you're going to make money. They don't know the struggles and the painful stuff people go through. If you've even told them that it's not easy, they don't believe it until they come here. So, I wish people knew that it’s not an easy process. There’s a structure.”