Jordan Hutcheson makes history

Mon, Feb 13th 2017, 12:35 AM

As an impressionable little girl Jordan Hutcheson remembers digging holes in her backyard valiantly trying to make her way to China while her grandmother, Marion Hutcheson, fried fish in the kitchen. She had dreams. Her family encouraged her dreams. They never told her that China or anyplace else for that matter was too far away or that she could never go. Today, Jordan Hutcheson, 21, is the first Bahamian to enroll at the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy University (ADA), where she is pursuing a bachelor's degree in international relations in a place many Bahamians have never heard of -- Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.
Hutcheson is expected to graduate in 2018.
The city Hutcheson has called home for the past three years is described as one of the world's most beautiful cities, and is located at the intersection of Europe and Asia.
Hutcheson says she didn't find the university - ADA found her. The university offered her a full fellowship that covers her tuition, books, accommodations and even a stipend. The only thing she pays for is airfare to and from the country.
In fact, Hutcheson said she hadn't even known about Azerbaijan before applying to ADA. Once she started doing her research she liked what she came across and applied to the university. She finalized her application 28 hours before it was due.
At the time of her acceptance at ADA, Hutcheson was a student at the then College of The Bahamas (now University of The Bahamas) studying law. She does not want to become a lawyer, but law or public administration studies were the closest courses to her choice of international relations. Since she figured there would be law courses in the mix in her future, she settled on law upon entering UB.
Due to a "sheltered" upbringing, the Kingsway Academy graduate said her family did not think she was ready to go straight off to university after high school. Hence, she enrolled at COB, and left after a year.
She received her ADA acceptance and scholarship information via email, minutes before she was to sit a French final exam. Hutcheson left the exam, unable to focus.
"I just picked up my stuff and told everybody bye and then I left," she said.
She said her family was so excited for her that they went out to dinner to celebrate. Later that night, her aunts, Melanie and Stephanie Hutcheson, started looking for airplane tickets to Azerbaijan. Her Aunt Mel traveled with the then 19-year-old to the country located on the western Caspian seaside, and stayed with her a little over a week to ensure Hutcheson would be safe.
"I had a round-trip ticket, so just in case she (Aunt Mel) didn't like everything about it, I would leave with her. It wasn't final just because we went," said the scholarship recipient.
Her Aunt Mel loved the city, and Hutcheson stayed.
"I will admit I was a bit scared at first, because you can prepare yourself for an experience like that only so much by reading and watching videos. Until you get there and actually see it and you're faced with stereotypes and facing people with stereotypes, that's the only time you can get an actual feel for it," she said.
Hutcheson says pursuing studies in Azerbaijan was an adventure for her.
"It's world-class education there. It's a transformation society. They just gained independence in 1991. I live in Baku, and a lot of change is happening there and I'm happy to be a part of it," she said.
ADA was established as a training institute in 2006, to meet the needs of the expanding diplomatic service of the country. It has grown into a full-fledged university with several schools offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs. The university opened its doors to students in January 2007 and moved to its permanent "green" and "smart" campus in downtown Baku in September 2012.
The university has four schools -- the School of Public and International Affairs, School of Business, School of Humanities and Sciences and School of Engineering and Information Technologies.
ADA University's tuition is approximately $5,000 per year.
English is the language of instruction at the institution, comprised of representatives from 43 countries, in a 2,300-strong student body.
Hutcheson does not have to deal with a language barrier, but she says there are times when people do speak in Azerbaijani or Russian. She's been there long enough that she's come to know words and phrases, but she said it was tough when she first got there and had to go to the market.

Academics
On the academic front, Hutcheson is excelling. In fact she says the good habits she adopted while at COB have held her in good stead at ADA.
"I think I was always a good student, but I was a bit naughty," she recalled of her junior and senior school years. "I went to Bahamas Academy [BA] for junior school, and I wasn't the best student, and kind of got in some trouble... I was a bit naughty and got in trouble a lot. I wasn't failing, but I had a bad attitude, and you can't really get far with a bad attitude. I left [BA] and went to Kingsway Academy, where I did a lot better."
At Kingsway which she attended for 10th through 12th grades, she had an about-face in attitude and was even named a prefect.
"By the time I went to COB I did extremely well," said Hutcheson. "I didn't go into university looking for friends. My aunt is a professor, so I got my lunch and ate in her classroom or her office, and I read and did my work, went to classes and went home. So by the time I got to ADA, it was kind of like the same thing."
It's a good thing she buckled down too, because she says ADA is tough.
"We read all day. It's work all day, every day, and that's what I like about it because I learn so much," she said.
At home during the school's winter break, she said she found herself frustrated with not having enough to read or do after the daily rigors of study at ADA.
Upon graduating ADA, and for as long as her family will continue to support her, Hutcheson said she has plans to continue her pursuit of education until there's nothing left for her to get.
"Right after I graduate, I want to start my master's degree in public policy. I haven't decided yet on the destination, but know I want to stay in the Eastern hemisphere, unless an opportunity presents itself at Georgetown University [in Washington, D.C.]. If it doesn't, I'm thinking about going to Doha (the capital city of Qatar), or even looking at schools in Kuwait. I have no intentions of coming home right now or stopping," said Hutcheson.
When she departed New Providence at the end of her winter break, Hutcheson traveled to Tokyo for six months as part of an exchange program to study at Yamanashi University, before she was due to return to Azerbaijan to prepare to graduate.
"I'm on an international adventure that I love, and I can't wait to get to Tokyo and experience what's there for me," she said.
While on the other side of the world, Hutcheson took advantage of opportunities to explore. She traveled to other regions in Azerbaijan, Russia, Qatar, London and Germany.

Life lessons
As she obtains her degree in higher education, Hutcheson is also becoming educated on herself.
"Sometimes I look at myself and I see someone that's so different... even in the way that I speak and the way that I dress, and even the things that I eat. I remember doing food and nutrition [classes] and reading about caviar and stuff and thinking it's so gross and so nasty, but I eat caviar for breakfast just about every morning with my bagels, so I'm trying new things and being open to experiencing new things."
The self-professed nationalist said she now ascribes to people being less insular and says people should look to cast their nets far and wide when it comes to pursuit of higher education.
"Everybody wants to study in the United States or Canada... some people don't even want to go further than Florida, but we have the whole world to see. There are so many opportunities to travel... to do work-study. The biggest lesson is that you can always learn, that there is never ever too much knowledge you can have, and to go and travel. And don't worry about the money; don't worry about your family situation; just go. Because once the time is gone it's gone. Bahamians are some of the brightest, smartest people in the world, and it does not make sense that we're all here, that we're all on one side of the world or in one place; go and travel... apply, just step out on faith. We say that we're a Christian nation and believe in God -- then God will cover you wherever you go. Go and apply, get the opportunities, but don't stay here if you don't have to. Just try. Be fearless."
In the years she's been in Azerbaijan, Hutcheson said she's never once suffered with homesickness or had a hankering to return. She said she has no place for that emotion in her life.
"I was extremely sheltered, but my family dreamed for me. From since I was a little girl, I knew that this [The Bahamas] would not be the only place that I lived. I used to dig in the backyard and try to dig to China while my grammy would be frying fish. And they never said, 'Oh no it's too far!' or 'Oh no you can't go'. And when I finally went, I was lucky enough to have my auntie accompany me on my journey. My grandma is 83 now, and with age comes more sickness, and so I would dwell on things like that and feel sad... But in terms of moping around and saying 'I want to come home, this is so far', I don't do that because I know in a second, based on one action sometimes all that can be taken away, so I don't dwell on that. I get really sad sometimes when I think about my grandma, but besides that, no."

Making headlines in Azerbaijan
Hutcheson recently made headlines in Azerbaijan when she accidentally became the 12th million visitor of ASAN's (Azerbaijan Service and Assessment Network) service center.
She had visited the government agency to apply for a temporary document, as her residency permit was not ready, and she had hoped to travel to Slovakia to visit a friend. Within three hours of making use of ASAN, she received a call asking her to return. She did, the next day, thinking there was a problem. When she arrived at the office, there was a barrage of television cameras in her face and reporters asking her how she felt
"It was all so quick. I kind of learned what I had won after the cameras had left. It took me about an hour and a half, because I had so many pictures to take."
Hutcheson became somewhat of a local celebrity after that. She said people stop her on the streets to ask for her autograph. She's done radio shows, and even during her break she received emails from companies wanting her to be their brand ambassador and the face of their companies.
"From that day it's like I'm a superstar. I cannot go places without people recognizing me, children coming up to me and smiling, wanting autographs. Even now that I'm at home I get emails from people wanting to know when I'm going to be back in Baku, because they have a project for me to work on. I've gone to interviews and they wanted me to sign job contracts right then, all because I used the government services. If it's not a photo shoot and something quick I don't take it. I'm there to finish school," she said.
While Hutcheson is inked in ADA University's history as the first Bahamian to study there, the second Bahamian has already made her way through the university's doors. Stefanisha Strachan, who rooms with Hutcheson, is in the public affairs program and expects to graduate in 2019; the Bahamians share university housing with students from France and Lithuania.
Hutcheson said having a fellow Bahamian join her was nice.
"When I was there alone I was friends with the Kenyans. I don't speak Swahili and just know a few words. But when a fellow Bahamian finally came, it was nice to hear my own accent and to say things someone understands without having to explain. To get excited when we hear the word 'conch fritter'... things like that. It was nice to have that," she said.

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