Before Santa Fe College, my life was hard. It wasn’t an easy journey for me. I left Syria before the war started, but it will forever have a piece of my heart. The majority of my family is all over the world because of the war. It’s not easy to live there. There’s no electricity, no water. There are bombings everywhere. My cousins who are still there weren’t allowed to go to school for a while. When they finally could, they knew they might not come back home, so they had to say goodbye in the morning. It was a huge risk just to go to school. And that is always on my mind. Every single decision I’ve made, I’ve thought: This will be the opportunity to share my culture, to share my beliefs, to eliminate stereotypes about Syrians. Ever since I was a little kid, this has always been something within me. One day, my dream is to work at the UN. I want to represent Syria there.
– Joudi Ayroud, A.A. Political Science, #SaintsOfSantaFeCollege