After transferring to North Carolina Central University, two international students found out something surprising - NCCU is a historically black university.
Martin Skogmalm, a senior business management major, and Bernard Schmid, a senior physics major, both enrolled in NCCU to finish their final year of college.
Before coming to NCCU, Skogmalm studied at the University of Växjö in Sweden, and Schmid studied at the University of Stuttjart in Germany.
"As I was looking at the pictures on the Web site, I noticed there were only black people," Schmid said. "So I guessed that the white people were the minority," he said.
"It was a culture shock," he continued. "If you're in Europe, it's the other way around."
Schmid said that this surprise is not going to stop him from having a successful year.
Instead, he relished the chance to meet new people and make new friends.
"It's not strange, just a different feeling," he said. The same thing goes for Skogmalm.
"The first thing I noticed was that there was a lot of black people here," said Skogmalm.
"I got a really big shock.," Skogmalm continued. "I thought, 'I'm at an all black school and I'm going to be the only white person here.' But I like it. The people are really nice and I think this is going to be a good year."
Skogmalm said he's used to taking classes in a big lecture hall with 200-300 students.
Skogmalm said he loves North Carolina weather and plans to find a job in the state that best fits his business management degree.
"My international coordinator back at home told me that North Carolina was a good state [to live in]," said Skogmalm. "[There are] lots of job opportunities, good climate, friendly people. That really meant a lot to me."
"I chose UNC-Chapel Hill as my first choice," Schmid added. "But I came here because this university, compared to all of the other universities in North Carolina, was the most popular one."
Skogmalm and Schmid entered into an exchange program at their universities that allowed students to travel abroad at no cost during their final year.
First, they had to pass the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), a standardized test that measures students' abilities to communicate in English.
"It's an English test that focuses on writing and speech," Skogmalm said.
Taken online, the test has a written and hearing part. Students have to score at least a 525 in order to be admitted into the school.
Schmid has never been to the states before now, but has come as close as Canada.
His father is a veterinarian and his mother teaches Home Economics in high school.
Skogmalm's father works for a company that sells vegetable seeds to grocery stores and his mother works as a bookkeeper for a local official.
"The people are very friendly.," Schmid said. "Not that people in Germany aren't, because they are . . . They just don't show it as much. People here will talk to you even if they don't know you."
"I also notice that insects here, like the butterflies, are really big," Schmid added. "In Germany, we only see them near sewers."
Skogmalm says that he has been to Florida once on vacation.
"It was always a dream for me to come here," Skogmalm said. "From growing up in Europe watching American T.V., to actually being here now - it's just really nice."
Skogmalm and Schmid are now roommates and live in Eagle Landing with two NCCU students from Durham.
Skogmalm said that black people are friendly, but they speak a little louder than white people.
"It's all good," he said.
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