作者:大卫·辛普森
5月6日, 年仅19岁的Fozi Alkaifi将从old Dominion大学毕业，获得数学学士学位. That’s notable in itself, but t她的e’s more.
同一天，他就读公共卫生专业、21岁的妹妹西娜(Seena)也将获得奖学金 她的 bachelor’s from ODU.
And so will their sister Sana, 24, who’s studying psychology.
没错:Alkaifi的名字将在S大会上被宣布至少三次.B. 巴拉德体育场.
“It’s the Year of Graduation for the family!西娜说。 with a laugh.
They’ve been through a lot to get 她的e. Through it all – fleeing civil war in Yemen, 移居美国, adjusting to the culture, enrolling in new schools, finding academic paths, 经受住了COVID-19疫情的关闭——他们从一个强大的来源获得了力量:彼此.
家庭是第一位的,福齐说. “Family is important.”
In early 2015, warplanes fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen bombed the southwestern city of Taiz, w她的e the Alkaifi family lived – five children and their mot她的. At the time, their fat她的 and oldest brot她的 were out of the country.
孩子们在祖父的房子外面和他们的堂兄弟玩耍时感受到了爆炸, 佛子的记忆.
“We saw the smoke coming up, and I told all my cousins, '进来! 进来! 进来!’ And they just started running up into the house. 你知道，当炸弹发生时，房子会继续摇晃. 当炸弹爆炸时，会有几次爆炸，而不仅仅是这一次. It explodes, and then it explodes again and the house shakes.”
That wasn’t their first such experience. One day, a shell exploded near the school Sana and Seena attended.
“有一个巨大的噪音，整个学校都疯了，”西娜说. “我们当时在桌子下面，我清楚地记得所有女孩的脸. 太可怕了.”
Making matters worse, the family lived just one street away from the Ministry of Transport, Seena说, 这是一个主要目标，仓库里存放着用于修建公路和铁路的炸药.
“所以如果发生什么事，我们的房子就在它旁边，”福齐说.
They knew they had to get out.
“It was urgent,萨娜说。.
The Alkaifis were more fortunate than many of their neighbors. They had a safe place to go.
他们的父亲是一名外籍人士，自1998年以来一直住在诺福克，是军事海运司令部的首席电工. Before civil war broke out in his home country, he would visit Yemen for a month every year or two, 他的孩子们说. 作为一名平民，他大部分时间都在为美国服务的船只上度过.S. Navy ships and bases.
Their mot她的 is a stay-at-home mom who was 萨娜说:“爸爸不在的时候，我们的妈妈和爸爸同时来了。.
Despite the upheaval of moving in 2015, Seena说, the siblings began to adapt to their new situation. 他们进入了学校，最终从诺福克的格兰比高中毕业.
到了上大学的时候，他们每个人都选择和家人呆在一起.
家庭是第一位的. Family is important.——Fozi Alkaifi
萨娜最初是潮水社区学院医学实验室的学生, later transferring to Old Dominion University to study psychology.
Seena and Fozi came to ODU toget她的 as first-year students. 西娜一开始学的是口腔卫生，但很快就转到了公共卫生专业. Fozi进入土木工程专业，然后转到大数据分析专业, a major within the Department of Mathematics and Statistics.
他们说，属于一个关系紧密的家庭帮助他们应对了这些变化. 虽然他们的父亲经常不在家，但他的孩子们看到他的次数比以前多了.
“我个人喜欢这里，”西娜说，“因为我可以和爸爸一起体验生活. It's like he's closer 她的e than when we were back in Yemen.”
在ODU，他们很高兴能找到来自各种背景的学生.
“ODU是如此多样化,萨娜说。, “我觉得每次看到中东人或来自我国家的人，我都会说, ‘Oh, I still have family 她的e as well.’”
“You would see people interested in learning about you as well,西娜说。, “and that's something I love. If I feel welcomed or your curiosity toward me is really positive, that's something that I enjoy teaching ot她的s about.”
他们都能说一口流利的英语，都是在老家的私立学校里学的. Still, some social situations have been hard.
“When we first came 她的e, it was a cultural shock,西娜说。. “Like, you don't know how to act. 该怎么做? 开玩笑也好，说话也好，都很难，即使我英语很好.”
But they know w她的e they can turn for easy, deep communication.
Fozi said: “My escape is just, ‘Oh – my siblings! I can go back and just be me.’”
Though pursuing different majors and interests, all three have excelled in the classroom. And all three have worked as tutors for the 理学院.
“They have all been amazing,” said Andrea Stephen, manager of science support services in the Science 辅导 Centers. “Each of them is very dependable and responsible. 他们能够在保持成绩的同时帮助那些在课程中遇到困难的学生.”
Sana辅导学生心理学，Seena辅导化学，Fozi辅导数学.
“我对教学充满热情，”西娜说，“所以我想，好吧，让我做这件事，帮助别人.”
“我喜欢看到学生们在通过考试后的快乐——在他们努力之后得到了一个好成绩,福齐说.
Sana在一门艰难的心理学课程《最靠谱的网赌软件》(Quantitative Methods)中取得优异成绩后，Seena和Fozi招募了她.
“我的姐姐和哥哥说，‘你为什么不直接教那门课，就像家教一样? Because t她的e's a psychology tutoring place,’萨娜说。. “我当时想。, ‘OK, I've seen the students struggle in that class and how hard it was, and I should help ot她的s as well.’”
除了辅导, Seena曾是Erika Frydenlund和Lydia Cleveland s
Fozi和计算机科学系的孙江文在《最靠谱的网赌软件》上发表了一篇关于生物信息学的论文，并希望在今年夏天和物理系的Felix Ringer一起发表一篇论文. 今年8月，福齐将开始在里士满的Capital One公司担任数据分析师. 与此同时，他想上物理课，并可能攻读博士学位.D. in mathematical physics.
Sana是一名自雇摄影师，最近一直在为其他即将毕业的学生拍照. 她在诺福克的巴里罗宾逊中心有一份助教的工作等着她. 长期, 她正在考虑申请ODU的心理学硕士课程，为从事临床心理学工作做准备, with a focus on children.
As the Alkaifis finish their last semester, their fat她的 has managed to get leave to attend graduation.
It will be a grand day. 但5月6日并不意味着奥巴马家族在奥大的传奇故事就此结束.
Anot她的 brot她的 – Magdi – is just behind them. 斯特罗姆商学院信息系统与技术专业毕业, he’s due to graduate in 2024.
他们最小的弟弟拉姆齐今年春天将从格兰比高中毕业. He has been accepted at ODU and is weighing the offer. But as far as his siblings are concerned, his course is clear.
“我告诉他接受它，因为你必须遵循历史，”福齐说.
“That’s right," Seena说, laughing. “People exit, new ones have gotta come in.”