It is a long way from a southeast African nation to Danville, Illinois, but John Mazunda made the trip in order to attend Danville Area Community College.

Currently a graduate student at Purdue University, John first came to Danville in 2005 to study Agriculture and Horticulture at DACC. After earning his Associate in Arts and Sciences degree in 2007, John transferred to Purdue where he received a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics in May, 2009. He is now pursuing a master’s degree in the same field and working as a research assistant in the department of Agriculture Economics at Purdue. With an emphasis on International Agriculture and Development, his goal is to return to Malawi at the conclusion of his education.

John is happy with the time he spent at DACC. He especially enjoyed his agriculture classes and credits Craig Potter with preparing him for his classes at Purdue. He said, “Everything I took at DACC was a good foundation for the work I’ve had to do since then. I didn’t have any problems keeping up with my peers who started at Purdue.” Because all the classes transferred, John was able to enter Purdue as a junior and complete his bachelor’s degree in two years.