{"id":51736,"date":"2025-05-15T09:32:47","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T13:32:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/?p=51736"},"modified":"2025-05-15T21:38:46","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T01:38:46","slug":"afghan-grads-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/afghan-grads-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"They Fled Afghanistan Together\u2014and Now They\u2019re Graduating"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After escaping the Taliban, nine women matriculated on the Hill; the first to complete their degrees are in the Class of \u201925<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Melissa Newcomb<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It took days, immense bravery, and several loops around the airport by bus as gunfire erupted around them for the group of young women to escape Afghanistan when the Taliban took over in August 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their final attempt came at 1 a.m. One of them, Simah Gul Sahnosh \u201925, had been in the hospital with a kidney infection when she got the message they were leaving. Despite excruciating pain, she recalls, her choice was clear: she would go. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group\u2014150 in total\u2014made it out on one of the last civilian flights from Kabul. They assumed they were headed back to their college campus, the Asian University for Women in Bangladesh, to complete their studies; its president had facilitated the journey, with the group communicating through WhatsApp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"From
Three Afghan students\u2014(from left) Diana Ayubi \u201925, Tamana Ahmadi \u201926, and Simah Gul Sahnosh \u201925\u2014outside Uris Hall shortly after arriving in 2021. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEducation is the most important and most valuable thing in my life,\u201d says Khadija Monis \u201925, echoing a sentiment shared by Sahnosh and many of their fellow travelers. \u201cIt has always been my dream.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But they weren\u2019t, in fact, headed to Bangladesh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t until the plane was well on its way\u2014and for some, even until it touched down in Washington, DC\u2014that they knew they were coming to the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was happy, because at least I was safe\u2014but I was afraid, because I didn\u2019t have any friends, family, or support here,\u201d says another member of the group, Khurshid Hussainy \u201925. \u201cThis is a big country; where were they going to take me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For nine of the women, the ultimate answer was the Ithaca campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

I was happy, because at least I was safe\u2014but I was afraid, because I didn\u2019t have any friends, family, or support here. This is a big country; where were they going to take me?<\/p>\nKhurshid Hussainy \u201925<\/strong><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Now, nearly four years later, six of them are poised to graduate with the Class of \u201925, while the others are continuing their undergraduate educations on the Hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to the dramatic disruptions in their lives and studies, it has been a longer journey to a bachelor\u2019s degree than for most of their classmates: each of the women earned a high school diploma around a decade ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo be the only girl from my whole family graduating; I can\u2019t find a word to describe how it feels,\u201d says Monis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt took me 10 years of work toward this degree\u2014not because I failed along the way, but because of what I had to overcome. It feels so rewarding, and I\u2019m so grateful for everything I\u2019ve achieved, and for everybody I\u2019ve met through the process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a Friday in late April, and she and four of her classmates\u2014Hussainy and Sahnosh, along with Diana Ayubi \u201925 and Tamana Ghaznawi \u201925\u2014have gathered on the Arts Quad to share their story with Cornellians<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Six
PROVIDED<\/figcaption>
At an Eid al-Fitr celebration (marking the end of the Ramadan fast) by Cayuga Lake.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

As the seniors explain: after a two and a half months at a U.S. Army installation in Wisconsin, the nine came to the Hill, living together on North Campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through Global Cornell (the Office of the Vice Provost for International Affairs) and its “scholars under threat<\/a>\u201d initiative, the University offered extensive support to help them get acclimated and to succeed\u2014including financial aid, specialized orientation sessions and tours, donated laptops, and care packages, as well as cultural training for the staff assigned to help them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through Global Cornell and its ‘scholars under threat’ initiative, the University offered extensive support to help the students get acclimated and to succeed.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Over the course of their first few semesters, they worked to process what they\u2019d endured, while exploring their new lives on the Hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Ayubi, that initial year was a combination of numbness and denial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI needed time to figure out how I could be a better version of myself regardless of what had happened to me,\u201d she says. \u201cThat was going to be very slow, but I would be stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over time, she and the others began to branch out\u2014joining student groups, starting jobs, making friends, connecting with faculty, and attending events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCornell became our home,\u201d says Monis, \u201cand friends have become family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ayubi, for example, began working in the Mathematics Library, became vice president of a student photography club, and joined two groups that promote mental health and wellbeing on the Hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Cornell became our home, and friends have become family.<\/p>\nKhadija Monis \u201925<\/strong><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI found my place here in a welcoming community,\u201d says Ayubi, who hopes to become a therapist, \u201cand I feel like I really belong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to becoming part of the wider campus community, the women have helped bring Afghan culture to the Hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, the Organization for Afghan Students<\/a> hosts an annual event called Mehmani Night, where Cornellians enjoy food, music, art, and dancing, with some attendees wearing traditional clothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe all look forward to it,\u201d says Ghaznawi, the club\u2019s secretary. \u201cIt\u2019s not only for the Afghan community; it\u2019s for everybody who wants to know more about Afghans and our culture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent years, the friends have hosted dinners at their off-campus homes, cooking traditional dishes\u2014like bolani<\/em> (stuffed flatbread) and kabuli pulao<\/em> (rice with lamb, carrots, and raisins)\u2014for each other, or for other Cornell friends, faculty, and staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Diana
Ayubi helps Hussainy with some finishing touches before a cap-and-gown photo shoot.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe celebrate every small milestone,\u201d says Monis, who grew up in a small village that has no school for girls. \u201cWhen one of us succeeds, we form a circle and dance together. We just love an excuse to have a party.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduation, all five of the women will pursue advanced degrees\u2014four of them on the Hill, and three in the same program (a master\u2019s of public health, specializing in epidemiology and infectious disease).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo matter how we have been affected in our lives,\u201d says Ayubi, \u201ctogether, we always took another step forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

No matter how we have been affected in our lives, together we always took another step forward.<\/p>\nDiana Ayubi \u201925<\/strong><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

As Commencement nears, the women are looking ahead while remembering all that came before\u2014especially the lives and the loved ones they left behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sahnosh\u2014the one who rose from her sickbed to make the flight\u2014thinks about how her parents always supported her desire for an education, even when other relatives were vehemently against it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When she was a small child, she recalls, her mother sold her own shoes so she could afford to buy a pair for her daughter to wear to school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt made me want to make her proud one day,\u201d she recalls, adding: \u201cI\u2019ve made her proud. I\u2019ve made myself proud.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Meet the Class of \u201925<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\"Diana<\/figure>
\n

Diana Ayubi \u201925<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

College & major:<\/strong> Arts & Sciences, psychology<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Campus activities include:<\/strong> Member of Cornell Minds Matter and EARS; vice president of Capture at Cornell; worked in the Mathematics Library and for Conference and Event Services<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduation:<\/strong> A doctorate in clinical psychology at West Chester University in Pennsylvania<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Goal: <\/strong>To be a therapist<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\n

Tamana Ghaznawi \u201925<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

College & major:<\/strong> CALS, biology and society (minor in global health)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Campus activities include:<\/strong> Member of Women\u2019s Higher Education Now; secretary of the Organization for Afghan Students; interned in the Undergraduate Admissions Office; worked in Mann Library<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduation:<\/strong> An MPH on the Hill<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Goal:<\/strong> To work in public health, inspired by COVID\u2019s impact on her family, including an aunt\u2019s death<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"Tamana<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"Khurshid<\/figure>
\n

Khurshid Hussainy \u201925<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

College & major: <\/strong>CALS, biology and society (minors in global health and in nutritional sciences)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Campus activities include:<\/strong> Treasurer of the Dragon Boat Club; served as a research assistant and as a translator at the Law School; TA’d an epidemiology course; worked at Mann Library and for Conference and Event Services<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduation: <\/strong>An MPH on the Hill<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Goal: <\/strong>To work for the World Health Organization or UNICEF<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\n

Khadija Monis \u201925<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

College & major: <\/strong>CALS, global and public health sciences<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Campus activities include:<\/strong> Founder of the One Woman’s Education program; member of the First-Generation Student Union; served as an assistant manger in the Human Design Innovations Lab; worked at Olin Library<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduation: <\/strong>An MPH on the Hill<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Goal:<\/strong> To work for the World Health Organization<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"Khadija<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"Simah<\/figure>
\n

Simah Gul Sahnosh \u201925<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

College & major:<\/strong> CALS, information science (minor in business at Dyson)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Campus activities include:<\/strong> Member of Women in Computing and of Minorities in Computing; TA\u2019d a web design course in the Bowers College; worked at Conference and Event Services and the Registrar’s Office<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduation: <\/strong>A master\u2019s in information science on the Hill<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Goal:<\/strong> To be a data scientist<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Top (from left): Class of \u201925 grads Tamana Ghaznawi, Simah Gul Sahnosh, Diana Ayubi, Khadija Monis, and Khurshid Hussainy on the Arts Quad. (All photos in this story by Jason Koski \/ Cornell University, unless otherwise noted.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published May 15, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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