HSU grad from Rwanda envisions return home to lead
Editor's note: Abilene's three four-year universities graduate this week, beginning with Hardin-Simmons on Friday. A three-part graduation series continues Friday with Jalen Promesse of McMurry and concludes Saturday with Dylan Rountree of Abilene Christian.
Belinda Kalyango has taken many big steps in her life. But Friday, her steps across the graduation stage at Hardin-Simmons University likely will be the biggest.
The HSU senior came to America at age 15, completing her secondary education in Utah and now college in West Texas. Her twin siblings, Bryant and Briana, who are freshman at the University of Utah, and her mother, Julian, will be at the Abilene Convention Center for commencement.
The ceremony was moved due to weather concerns.
Kalyango promised there will be tears, and did not apologize.
"It's going to be a lot," she said, smiling. "I can't imagine."
Her parents' dream for her is coming true.
Kalyango is graduating with a double major in economics and business management. One day, she would like to return to her home country to use her education to lead the way. Especially, among women, who are reversing a cultural tradition of only men holding leadership positions.
This in a country that in 1994 was torn apart by civil war, with widespread reports of genocide.
Today, it's a place where a woman can succeed.
Kalyango from Kilgali
What a journey for Kalyango, besides the many flight legs it takes to travel back and forth between continents.
She is from Kigali, the Rwandan capital city located in the center of the country. It was founded in 1907, making Abilene 26 years older. It's in an area of rolling hills, not tall but more dramatic than those south of here.
Her first journey to the U.S., at the urging of her parents, was to Utah. Her parents had a friend whose son was attending Layton Christian Academy in Layton. It had a recommended international program.
"It was definitely not something I saw myself doing," she said of leaving her homeland. "My parents told me, 'You have to see ahead. You have to see the world bigger. How are you going to help the country if you don't grow as a person in that aspect?'"
To her credit, Kalyango was up to the challenge of going to new places and meeting new people.
"Honestly, it has been good transition. Hard, but a good transition," she said.
"The international (program) president came to Kigali and I loved him and my parents loved him. I applied and got in," she said.
A friend at Layton had a sister who went to Hardin-Simmons. Her friend believed the atmosphere at HSU - welcoming to international students - would be a comfortable fit for Kalyango when she was ready for college.
Kalyango would become an education survivor of the COVID era, coming to HSU in 2019. She was able to stay with a local family for the first two or so months of the pandemic in 20202 before Rwanda opened its border for its residents, such as students, to return.
Kalyango was able to return to Abilene that August to resume school.
Her college routine was to be here for nine months, then go home for three. So reuniting with her family for graduation is even more special.
"I hope they've missed me," she said, laughing. "I miss them."
At HSU, she planned to study international relations but that course of study is not offered as a major. She envisioned working in the corporate world, so business management seemed to be a prudent path.
"If you want to be a leader," she said. Economics fits in as well, so Kayango had her plan.
Why this area of study?
Her father, Steven, is a businessman, working in construction.
"Having him as a pillar in my life and seeing how he has managed his business and how he has carried himself in the business world, I admired that and I saw myself in the business world as well," she said. "I guess you could say I am walking through his footsteps."
Her next step in education is to get her MBA. She has applied at Houston, Texas-Arlington and Texas Woman's University.
Eventually, her country may benefit from her education in the States.
"I definitely see myself using that back home," she said. "We are a developing nation for sure and I want to be an input for my country. I see myself starting a business there. I'm not exactly sure what yet but I see myself being an input to my country that way."
Growing up here
Besides her gaining in education, Kayango believes she has grown personally over each nine-month stretch in Abilene.
"I for sure think I'm more independent every time I go back home," she said.
She has been part of the international community at HSU, this year serving as vice president of International Student Services
"But you get to do a lot of things by yourself, and you come here by yourself. So I think I am more independent," she said. "
She has adapted to the weather. It doesn't snow in Kigali. Or hail like it did earlier this week.
"That never happens in our country," she said, laughing about the 2021 winter storm. "Just rain and sun and wind."
She at least got two of those during her stay here.
The best thing about being a Texan is the food, she said. Yet, she noted that international students at HSU have a week in March when they cook their own dishes to share.
"That definitely was a culture change," she said of American food, which gets Old West and Tex-Mex twists here.
Hardest for her was being homesick, which is the biggest challenge for other students like her, she said.
"They are miles and miles away," she said. She can call home but has to be aware that the time difference is eight hours. Noon in Abilene would be 8 p.m. in Kigali.
She was a student worker and won the Ruby A. and Jesse N. Fletcher Award as the outstanding School of Business student.
She was active in the African Student Association and the international week in March, when students present a chapel program, and take part in World of Wonder - a showcase of songs, skits and more.
Kalyango danced in the production.
In chapel, the students present the flags of their nations.
At Taste of the World, the foreign students get to cook for others and dress traditionally.
There is worshipping in their own languages based on what is presented in English.
"Lastly is the soccer tournament," she said, admitting that the HSU Cowgirls' soccer team is pretty darn good for a country that prefers the other game of football.
The international week unites foreign students and embeds them more deeply into the HSU community.
Going back there
And when she goes home, she meets friends who have gone to study elsewhere. They share their experiences and, yes, have to get used to being back in Rwanda.
"After a week, I'm like, 'OK, this is what it's like to be home again,'" she said.
Home certainly is better in 2023 than 30 years ago - before her lifetime.
Education, health care and infrastructure have improved, she said. The country is moving forward.
Kalyango said "for sure" she will meet resistance as a woman in the business world in Rwanda. But more women now are studying to enter that world, and change is underway.
"Women have more opportunities to have important roles," she said.
HSU commencement
Hardin-Simmons has two ceremonies Friday, with 232 expected to take diplomas:
Times:
10 a.m. - 91 candidates (75 undergraduates, 15 graduates, 1 doctoral)
2 p.m. - 141 candidates (104 undergraduates, 32 graduates, 5 doctoral)
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: HSU grad from Rwanda envisions return home to lead
