After a stint on Staten Island and an Italian itinerary, Freda Koomson, 23, found Pittsburgh held the most potential for her future plans.

A first-generation American of parents from Liberia in West Africa, Ms. Koomson was charged with studying hard so she could succeed. The New York native did exactly that, earning an Ivy League degree from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. But the City of Brotherly Love wasn't doing it for her and, after graduating last year with a double major in Health & Societies and African Studies, she decided to head to Staten Island, where her mother had relocated from Brooklyn.

Ms. Koomson got a job getting patients' information before and after chemotherapy at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan, but after six months she realized it was not where she needed to be.

"I wanted to continue my studies. I was premed originally at Penn, but I didn't want to go back to Philadelphia and I didn't want to be in New York," she admitted. During a trip to Italy, while she was sorting things out, a friend told her to look at Pittsburgh.

She hadn't heard the best things about the city but decided to see for herself.

"My first impression, I was amazed and surprised because of how different it was from the description of other Pittsburghers, who said it was drab. One of the first places I saw was Mount Washington and there happened to be a Steelers game at the time we visited, so it was great."

But it took more than a great view and winning team to convince her that Pittsburgh is where dreams come true. Neighborhoods and diversity were equally important to her. "I was taken on a tour of the bad parts and the good parts of Pittsburgh," she recalls about that first visit.

Her friend had done a project on East Liberty in college and Ms. Koomson said that is what first piqued her interest in racial relations in Pittsburgh. She saw room for improvement when it came to diversity, but also a place where she could affordably pursue her future medical career.

Freeda Koomson has always been on the move. By fifth grade, she was in Prep for Prep, which identifies exceptional New York City students of color and puts them into a 14-month program and then into an independent school. (She went on to Poly Prep in Brooklyn.) "When my mother put me through school, there was no fear of this 'acting white.' It was about studying and doing your best no matter what anyone said.

"Amidst the racial climate in America that differed greatly from the classism my mother experienced in her homeland in Liberia, she was determined for her children to succeed no matter what the racial circumstances in her new home were."

So after her initial visit, she took the plunge and moved here in April. "For me, the affordability of Pittsburgh is a big factor. I could not afford to live in New York and go to school the way I can here.

"I immediately signed up for natural science classes at the University of Pittsburgh toward my goal of becoming a doctor. By May 11, I had three jobs," she exclaimed. Two of her jobs are in research: one clinical and the other in sociological development. The other job is as personal assistant for a woman. "Not only have I found three jobs, but both the School of Nursing and School of Medicine are among the best in the country."

In the meantime she is loving the simplicity of getting around her new hometown. Ms. Koomson lives in Oakland and finds that everything is very accessible. In Staten Island, "my commute to work every day included the bus to the ferry to the train to my job. Here there aren't subways like in New York but the bus system is so easy," she concluded.

Not wasting any time getting to know the people and the place, Ms. Koomson was lucky enough to tailgate at a Penguins playoff game (her first hockey game). "It was amazing to see the solidarity of Pittsburgh fans," she said. One of the first things she did when she got here was to connect with her sorority sisters of Zeta Phi Beta in Pittsburgh. She also went online to the www.TheSoulPitt.com, an African-American resource of things to do here.

"I definitely don't feel lost in this town," she said. "The people have been so helpful and I love the green hills, but I am worried about spending my first winter" (She has been misled to believe we have colder winters than New York City.)

There is one thing that does confuse her. "What is," she wondered, "a yinzer?"