The classroom at East Legon did not look like a classroom.
On the day Ms Hellen Mensah's Level 100 Sociology students gave their group presentation, the room had been transformed. Students arrived in African print.
A drama unfolded in one corner.
A teaching demonstration took shape in another.
The topics had been assigned weeks earlier.
The students had done the work themselves, researching, rehearsing and presenting what they had learned in their own way.
Ms Mensah explained afterwards that the aim was for students to take ownership of the material.
She said a student who teaches a topic tends to remember it differently.
That scene captures, in a small way, what the Southshore University College says it is trying to do.
For many students, university begins with a simple goal.
They want a degree. But between the first lecture and the final examination, it can also become a place where students discover new interests and begin to think about life beyond the classroom.
The Southshore University College at East Legon, Accra, was formerly known as the Dominion University College.
The institution adopted the name the Southshore University College as part of its development.
President Professor Nicholas N. N. Nsowah Nuamah leads the institution. Professor Felix Nikoi Hammond serves as Chairman of the Governing Council.
Students involved in the exercise said they understood the material better because they had to explain it to others. In a system where lectures can still dominate, that is not a small thing.
University life at Southshore also extends past the classroom door. Students take part in educational trips and sports.
These create opportunities to spend time together outside academic work.
A recent trip took students to the Kakum National Park, where they walked the canopy walkway and spent the day away from books.
Sporting activities have included matches and socialising. It is a reminder that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
For alumnus Bright B. Y. Okyere, the university was about more than a certificate. He graduated with a BBA in Accounting and Finance in 2021.
He recalls lecturers, such as Mr Alhassan and Mr Erasmus, whose practical approach made accounting easier to understand.
His experience also took him beyond the classroom.
He served as financial secretary and later as SRC president.
Those roles, he says, strengthened his communication, teamwork and leadership skills.
In his third year, he was recognised as the most influential student.
Practical experience forms part of the institution's academic structure more broadly.
Internships and cooperative placements expose students to workplace environments.
They allow students to see how concepts discussed in class relate to professional settings, though the nature of these experiences varies by programme and placement.
Wider conversation
For now, the story of Southshore is told less in its brochures than in its classrooms.
It is told in a Sociology lesson conducted in African print.
It is told in a canopy walk at Kakum.
It is told in the voice of an alumnus who found his footing in leadership.
These are the moments that form the day-to-day experience of studying at the institution.
For many students, they are the ones they carry with them long after graduation.
