Meet Arsema Abegaz: Education is a lifelong pursuit for this Williams College grad

Berkshire Eagle: Accents in the Berkshires

Read the story: http://www.berkshireeagle.com/stories/meet-arsema-abegaz-education-is-a-lifelong-pursuit-for-this-williams-grad,513686 Born in Ethiopia, raised in Botswana and steeped in the very different cultures and languages of those disparate African countries, Arsema Abegaz speaks American English without even a trace of an accent. “Being young and impressionable, I did not enjoy sticking out like a sore thumb every time I spoke,” Abegaz explains in her Pittsfield apartment. Now 25, she came to the Berkshires in 2010 to study at Williams College. “And so I found myself putting on an American accent my first year,” she continues. “I do pick up languages and accents pretty quickly. By the time I was a junior, I realized one day that I wasn’t putting it on anymore.” Abegaz speaks Amharic, the language of her Ethiopian parents. One of the stereotypes people tend to assign to Ethiopia is that the country has produced a lot of champion marathon runners. “Well …,” she says, with the exact ironic inflection any American-born 20-something would add. “In high school, I ran cross-country.” She was actually good enough to be considered for Botswana’s national team. “It is a stereotype because to some extent it’s true,” she says. “That is one of the most positive stereotypes that has come out of Ethiopia.”