GOSHEN — A former high school teammate from Kampala, Uganda, told Peni Acayo about her experience of going to college in the United States.

That conversation with Doris Mvano, who was attending Taylor University, gave Acayo the courage to leave her homeland and travel approximately 7,000 miles to attend Goshen College. The decision worked out, as Acayo will graduate from GC today as an art major (focus on graphic design).

“I had never heard of Goshen until talking with Doris,” Acayo said. “She told me about Taylor and some of the other schools in the (Mid-Central) conference. I was looking for a Christian campus so I applied to Goshen.”

Kampala is the capital of Uganda and had an estimated population of 1,420,200 in 2008. While it is a much larger city than Goshen, there was still plenty of culture shock in store for Acayo.

“One of the biggest differences is the weather,” she said. “In Uganda we basically have two seasons — rainy and hot. I had never seen snow before. It was exciting the first time, but then when it sticks to the ground and piles up you realize it’s not going to change for a while.”

Food was another difference.

“I had never eaten a sandwich before coming to America,” Acayo said. “We have bread in Uganda, but it is eaten at breakfast or with evening tea. Meals in Uganda are usually hot, a rice and sauce dish and potatoes.”

She was surprised by the choices American college students have.

“In Uganda you don’t go to college unless you know what you are studying,” Acayo said. “You have to decide what you want to study and then apply to that school and see if you are accepted. There are no undecideds. I couldn’t believe students here had the luxury of going to college without first knowing their field of study.”

Acayo changed her own mind. She started at Goshen College as an architecture major.

“My sophomore year I took a digital design class and it was the hardest class ever,” she said. “It stressed me more than calculus or any of the other math classes. The professor told me I had a passion for design and encouraged me.”

Acayo has been accepted into graduate school and will begin the Visual Communication Design MFA program at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, this fall.

‘What did you say’

Despite knowing English when she came to America there were language barriers.

“We speak British English in the schools,” she said. “That is different than what is spoken here in America. During my freshman year there was a lot of asking ‘What did you say.’ There was a lot of time spent learning how to pronounce words so they would not have to be repeated.”

Athletics were an avenue Acayo used to bridge that barrier.

“I was going to play volleyball, so my arrival on the campus was one week ahead of the other students,” she said. “That allowed for some time with my teammates to ease into the adjustments.”

Even the sport of volleyball had its differences between the two countries.

“In Uganda, we played outside on dirt or grass courts,” Acayo said. “The first day in the gym here at Goshen I thought I would be sliding all over the floor. The lights were a distraction at first. It wasn’t the same as playing outdoors.

“The hardest thing at first was communicating with my teammates,” she said. “On the court there is not a lot of time for trying to understand what is being said. Most of my freshman season I would wave or point to where I wanted the ball.”

The 5-9 outside hitter overcame all those obstacles to became one of the finest volleyball players Goshen has every produced. As a junior, Acayo became the first Maple Leaf to be named the Mid-Central Conference “Player of the Year” and to the first team National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) all-American squad.

Not all of her athletic success came in volleyball. Acayo placed second in the women’s triple jump at the 2010 NAIA national championship at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, earning another all-American honor.

She finished her volleyball career with a GC record 2,105 kills, nearly 600 more than the second-place hitter. She leads in kills per game (4.31), is second in attack percentage (.271) and service aces (210) and fourth in digs (1,240).

“Peni is the most phenomenal I’ve ever coached,” said GC volleyball coach Jim Routhier, who coached her for the past two seasons. “She is a natural athlete. At the end of last season, I told her she has set the standard at GC. From now until the end of time every player is going to be compared to her.

“Even is she had not been a volleyball player I would consider her to be a great person,” he said. “The volleyball camps we have in the summer for high school kids showed me the kind of person she is. All 50 girls in camp would huddle around her and want her to coach their team.”

The coach shared a story about Acayo’s all-American trophy.

“It’s sitting in my office,” Routhier said. “I keep telling her to get it, but she says she doesn’t have a place for it. The honor was a big deal to her. However, it was not why she played. She played because she loved the sport.”

Routhier was working with Acayo on her defense one day in practice, which led to an interesting discovery.

“She was hitting the ball wrong so I asked her if she could see the ball,” he said. “She told me not very well since she wore glasses and didn’t have contacts to wear while playing. That is the kind of kid she is. She didn’t want to tell anyone. We worked with her and got her some contacts.”

The type of compassion shown by the coach and her teammates is one of the reasons going to a Christian college was important to Acayo.

“When I started talking about coming to America to attend college, my mother didn’t like the idea,” Acayo said. “Uganda is about 80 percent Christian, so looking at Christian colleges helped her in the decision process.”

Acayo’s family is here for today’s graduation.

“It helped when mom met my coaches, teammates and friends,” she said. “She was blown away by their hospitality. She said, ‘These people don’t just say they are Christians, they live it out.”’

Buggy ride

A further example of how Acayo bonded with her teammates happened when Ali Hawkins (Bethany Christian High School graduate) helped her fulfil a goal she set during her freshman year at GC.

“We were at a bonfire and an Amish buggy went by,” Acayo said. “I was amazed people like the Amish lived in America. I ran after the buggy and set a goal of riding in one before graduation. Ali lives in Middlebury and has Amish neighbors. We visited their house and went for a buggy ride. That is something I will cherish for the rest of my life.”

During her time at GC, Acayo has also been involved in projects that help others in the community.

“Goshen College has a culture for service,” she said. “I want to give back, because I have been blessed. I don’t take my being here lightly, but definitely see myself going home some day. I would love to start my own non-profit organization to help the people of Uganda.”