Ikram Soultani came from Morocco to study business administration

Moroccan student makes Nicholls her second home

By: Megan Landry

Posted: 9/30/04

Ikram Soultani is a business administration senior from Morocco, where she graduated from a French-speaking high school. She then attended the University of Nantes and the Vidal School in France.
She has an internship through the Louisiana Center for Women and Government at the Houma-Terrebonne Housing Authority.

Q: How long have you been at Nicholls?

A: I was in France before. I received a psychology degree there and an associate's degree in business. I came here in January 2003. I was supposed to be done by now, but with the transcripts and the transfers ( I lost credit).

Q: What type of degree did you have in psychology?

A: It's a three-year degree. It has a name in France, but here you just have either associate or bachelor. Nicholls just gave me some credit for some classes, but I lost most of (the credit because it didn't transfer over).

Q: What attracted you to the United States?

A: First, for the language. I have always loved learning different languages. Plus, I was attracted to the country because it is so huge and there are so many things to see.

Q: What languages are you fluent in?

A: French, Arabic, Egyptian and English.

Q: What made you choose Nicholls?

A: There was an accident, actually. I was supposed to go to Florida. I was going back and forth between France and Morocco at the time, so I was receiving the application forms from the different universities. Nicholls showed up while I was doing my research. I asked for an application form, and this one was the first one I received. When I went back to France, I made a big mistake. I put everything (transcripts, birth certificate, etc.) in my baggage, and the airport lost my baggage and never found it. So all of my diplomas, all of my translations were gone, and the only university that had (copies of) everything was Nicholls. It's not a very common story.

Q: What was the biggest adjustment you had to make moving to Louisiana?

A: The biggest adjustment I think is the city because it's small, not really developed, nothing much to do.

Q: What differences in culture do you see?

A: I think socially, down here, people have the impression not to evolve and not to learn that much and interact with people. The people are really nice but are not really open-minded. It's different because people have been raised differently. People here are interested in other things that we consider minor, like having a big car, big speakers, whatever. Little things like that. We are raised to be interested in other places of the world. People here are more into material things. I'd rather have a car that just runs, I don't care what it looks like and use the money to travel, go somewhere; learn something. Priorities are different.

Q: What are your plans for after graduation?

A: I have the right to work for one year after graduation in the United States with the type of VISA I have. I'd like to take the opportunity and work to have some professional experience here.