Education and employment in America: my quest for self-actualization as a person with hearing loss

Abstract Evidence indicates that some Africans, with or without special needs or disabilities highly target attending U.S. colleges and universities for further education. Typically, most of these people had obtained their bachelor’s degrees in institutions of higher education in their countries. The desire to travel to U.S. for graduate studies could be due to factors such as the absence of desired graduate programs, limited admission opportunities in institutions of higher education, and social, political, and economic instabilities in African countries. For Africans with special needs or disabilities, the lack of support services in tertiary institutions in their countries is a major factor for their strong desire to go the U.S. for higher education. Some Africans educated in U.S. colleges and universities may, on completion of their programs of study, decide to seek suitable employment opportunities in the U.S. From afar, they are still able to make positive contributions to the social, economic, and political developments of their home countries. I am one of those graduates who decided to work in the U.S. In this article, I share my experiences.