The Bitter Passage of Time
2004 was a special year for Ghassan bin Hammam. He had just been accepted into a Ph.D. program in robotics at The Ohio State University, paving the way for his […]
Category: Beaverton
A Nation Without Borders
Shabnam Rostami stood in her backyard with her children, watching the Oregon International Air Show. Suddenly, childhood memories
A Continued Love for Learning
As Rekesh Subedi’s family prepared to leave Nepal for the United States, he talked excitedly with his friend about travelling on planes. “I told him, when you see a plane […]
And The Quartet Played On
“Outside the monster raged with flaming nostrils. But inside there was tranquility. The melancholy notes of Albinoni’s adagio drifted into every corner of the room,
Finding Courage in the Unfamiliar
When Japhety Ngabireyimana landed in the United States at age nine, he thought he was seeing ghosts. “I was surrounded by a bunch of white people at the airport,”
Believe in Yourself and Go the Distance
Elizabeth Flores always knew that it was up to her to solve her own problems. “I realized pretty early in high school that I wasn’t going to get out of […]
Giving Artists Space to Thrive
The air raid signals blared as six-year-old Chris Ayzoukian rushed to hide in the bathroom alongside his parents and older sisters. Their flat was dark, so the five of
Expert in Languages at an Early Age
“Being American means hard work and being involved in your community,” says Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) student Marcela Morales.
From Bullets to Building
Marbles, three books of short Kurdish stories written in Arabic, and two AK-47 rounds. “With war always going on, those were my trophies (to take with me),”
The Journey of a Lifetime
When 25-year-old Nader Rezvani saw the Statue of Liberty from a tourist boat in 1963, he recalled the poem inscribed on the statue’s pedestal and thought,
Dignity in Helping Others
One might not expect someone who has been bullied and shot at to pour all her energy into helping others. But Divine has been defying odds and expectations
Hope for a New Generation
Jenny Munezero was two months old the night the soldiers attacked, and the only one left alive in her family’s house. “To this day nobody knows why I wasn’t killed. […]
Creating New Narratives
When Naskah Zada immigrated from Iraq to the U.S. in the fall of 1997, she was expecting to eat pizza in front of a big-screen television in either a mansion […]
Giving Others a Voice
Most second-graders don’t worry about what the other kids are thinking when they plan play dates. Elijah Russell, however, figured his friends were only interested
From Fist Fighting to Mediating
Bernal Cruz had just been suspended from high school for taking part in a fist fight when one of the school counselors stopped him and said, “I think you would