Learning to Be Too Why!

When was the first time someone told you, "You too why!"
...question asked at Ashesi University Freshman Orientation.

You too why! is pidgin for you ask too many questions. And, You too know! means, you want to know too much!  Dean of Students Ruth Kwakwa says that every freshman can remember being shamed as a child for asking too many questions.  So Ashesi University in Ghana has four years to teach, Go ahead, be too why! Be too know! Freshman Orientation is filled with sessions on how to study, instead of memorize stuff; and how to discover who you are and what you care most about. There are sessions based on the book Mindset by Carol Dweck that show why hard work is more important than talent, and that if you believe in a "growth mindset" instead of believing that talent or intelligence is fixed, then you can expand your capabilities.

The upperclassmen run a huge ceremony to welcome the freshmen, complete with drums and a drinking bowl. Oh, and there's no pidgin allowed in class.

Freshman Welcome Celebration Photos

Here to Help - Student Mentors Host Celebration in Cornfield Courtyard