From Iran to MIT

Below is an article my Father-in-Law wrote for his local community (Naples, Florida) newsletter.  I do need to explain as his words say everything.

A FORMER ST. KITTS RESIDENT ACCEPTED AT M.I.T.

Many of the residents here may remember the smiling face of Moojan who lived with us at St. Kitts from 2005 until mid 2008. Her background and accomplishments is worthy of mention and may interest you.

Six months after losing her father who died in 2004 when she had just finished her high school in Tehran, Iran Nooshi and I sponsored Moojan to come to the USA. After arriving here in Naples, in early 2005 she enrolled at Edison College.

At school, her biggest obstacle was her ability to understand English. “This would be so much easier if it were written in Persian”, she would often complain. With the help of a Webster English dictionary and the drive and dedication she displayed, she slowly began to overcome this obstacle. Although always smiling, she felt lonely here; having recently lost her father, she missed her life-long friends, her two siblings and mom but continued to work hard for the dream of America.

After a week of arrival in Naples, she had a job at Stein Mart in the Marketplace Plaza. Within four months she had her driver’s license, her own credit card, a checking account, and money to buy a small digital camera. She used the camera constantly to capture her experiences in Naples and email them back to her family and friends in Iran, who emailed back in awe. Soon after, she bought her first car.

Returning from her part time job and College, Moojan spent her evenings studying laboriously, her biggest challenge was comprehension of English but she did not give up. Within the first year in her new homeland, she became a Calculus and Physics Tutor at the Edison College and was promoted to a Supervisory Cashier position at Stein Mart where she continued to work part time. In 2007, she was selected by Edison College to take part in the Florida Math Olympics. Then, she became a member of the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society at Edison. Finally, with hard work, she graduated from Edison as an Honor student with GPA of 4. She was accepted at the University of Florida in Gainesville for an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering in the spring of 2008.

Her accomplishments at the University of Florida continued. Her academic accomplishments provided her scholarship, tuition waivers and grants both from the State and Federal programs. She rented her own apartment, worked part time while continuing as a full time student. She integrated herself into the American life by volunteering for various community and school activities. She joined the University Rugby team, perhaps, the very first in the history of University of Florida, to have a female Rugby student from an Islamic country in the Middle East! She also worked as a Research Assistant at School and was assigned to work on a USA Department of Energy Project. Moojan’s familiar statement to us was always the same, “I cannot believe how good America has been to me”.

In the summer of 2009, she got an internship assignment at Exxon Mobil Refinery in Illinois. In December 2009, Moojan graduated from the University of Florida Magna Cum Laude with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering with minor in Bio mechanics. She got job offers from G.E., Exxon Mobil, Kraft, and Siemens. However, she has now been accepted at M.I.T., and given scholarship. She plans to do her MS in Manufacturing at M.I.T., as a full time student starting in the fall of 2010. Most important of all, soon she will call herself a proud American when she takes her oath to become a US citizen in May 2010.

From an unknown future in a politically unstable country to M.I.T., and U.S. citizenship is an accomplishment, a dream for Moojan, which she could only do in America, a land of opportunity for those who have the commitment and dedication to achieve their dreams.

Tagged as: Florida, MIT, Moojan