Porttanh (Observer
Page 4
June 2, 2010
Student Shares Amazing Story
Surviving war, discrimination
on her journey to success
11er story covers surviving a w ar
in A fghanistan, discrim ination and
harassm ent in Pakistan, acclim ating
to a new country in the U nited States
and finding her identity at one o f the
country's largest com m unity co l
leges.
M irai R ezayee B essed, 29, will
share her a m azin g story as she
graduates from Portland C o m m u
nity C ollege and is honored as the
school’s com m encem ent speaker on
Friday, June 11.
As a kid, B essed survived five
rocket explosions in her hom etow n
o f Kabul, A fghanistan, and her fam
ily escaped the violence by trav el
ing across the border into Pakistan
in 1992.
Pakistan w asn't m uch better. H er
family endured extrem e poverty and
discrim ination com m only directed
tow ard A fghan expats and, being a
w om an from a liberal family, was the
target o f sexual and verbal violence.
"D iscrim ination against w om en
is a huge problem in Peshaw ar, Pa
kistan, especially im m igrant w om en
w ho cam e from A fghanistan," she
said. "T here is a lot o f hate out there
and the equality line is very blurry.
But I was able to survive it and still
had the chance to get an education
because o f an open-m inded fam ily,
w ho put ed u catio n first, so I'm
lucky."
In 2000, B essed m oved to Port
land to be w ith her husband and
im m ediately had to fight another
battle - assim ilation.
"It was absurdly hard," B essed
added. "M y first tim e aw ay from my
hom e w as com ing halfw ay around
the w orld as well as flying in an
airplane for the very first tim e. C o n
sidering this, can you im agine hav
ing to hop four flights to get here?
It w as a horrifying experience, but,
hey, I m ade it. T hat is part o f w hat
has helped be w ho I am today."
H er husband happened to be a
PCC student and he encouraged her
to enroll. B essed said she rem em
bers clearly com ing to the college's
Sylvania C am pus and taking the
placem ent test in 2001. B ecause o f
the language barrier and not being
strong at m ath, she placed all the
w ay at the bottom in M ath 20 and
R eadingand W riting90. But like all
challenges in her life, she didn't let
low first scores stop her.
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Mirai Rezayee Bessed survived war in Afghanistan, discrimination in Pakistan and assimilation in a
new country to graduate with honors from Portland Community College.
"I had to w ork m y se lf up from
there and com pleted a lot o f p re
requisites," B essed rem em bered.
A lay o ff forced her husband out
o f w ork and her into it. C ollege w as
put on stand-by as she becam e a
professional Jew eler for Ben B ridge
Jew elers in C lackam as. She w as so
successful sellin g d iam onds and
luxury tim epieces (more than $ 1 m il
lion in total sales) that she w as re
cently honored at a luncheon w ith
billionaire investor W arren B uffett
o f B erkshire H athaw ay. B essed a c
com plished this feat despite going
to PCC full-tim e w hile w orking full
tim e starting back in 2007.
She is now w ell on h er w ay to
w ard being a jo u rn alist, a pro fes
sion that she said seem s a good fit
for her. It's a career that can help her
in her quest to shine a light on
w om en's rights back hom e and it's
an issue she feels she can do a lot o f
good for as a jo u rn alist.
"It is in m y blood," said B essed,
w ho is fluent in fo u r languages.
"M y father w as a jo u rn a list and m y
uncle too. A s an A fghan w ith strong
ties to Pakistan and to A m erica, I
can relate to the bicultural issues o f
d isc rim in a tio n , o p p re ssio n , re li
gious dom ination, and assim ilation
that is often forced. A s a w om an, I
am well positioned to see gen d er
inequity, p articu larly w h en it is
coupled w ith m y ethnicity. I so far
have been successful at everything
I have started. So on m y w ay up, I
w ant to lift o th er w om en w ith m e to
p ro o f the fact that su ccess doesn't
have lim its o f eth n icity an d gender.
T hat is m y m ain source o f inspira
tion."
She credits h er husband o f 11
years, fam ily and esp ecially PC C
instructors for giving h er the sup
port she needed to excel in h er stud
ies and becom e a big success at the
college.
48th PCC Graduation Ceremony
Portland Com munity College
is celebrating its 48th gradua
tion with a com m encem ent cer
emony beginning at 7 p.m. on
Friday, June 11, at the M emorial
Coliseum.
Family, friends, faculty and
staff will be on hand to congratu-
late the graduates and celebrate
their accomplishments as they
take center stage.
PCC will be awarding nearly
3,000 diplomas and certificates,
with approximately600 graduates
expecting to walk on stage during
the commencement ceremony.
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T h e state o f O re g o n w ill p a rt
n e r w ith M ic ro so ft to p ro v id e free
o n lin e te c h n o lo g y tra in in g to O r
e g o n ia n s w h o are o u t o f w o rk and
lo o k in g fo r o p p o rtu n itie s to im
p ro v e th e ir c o m p u te r sk ills.
“ T h is p u b lic -p riv a te p a rtn e r
sh ip w ill p ro v id e O re g o n ia n s w ith
th e o p p o rtu n ity to learn th e sk ills
n e e d e d fo r 2 1 st C e n tu ry jo b s ,”
s a id G o v . T e d K u lo n g o s k i. “ I
w o u ld like to p e rs o n a lly th an k
M ic ro s o ft fo r th e ir g e n e r o s ity
d u rin g th is d iffic u lt tim e .”
U n d e r M i c r o s o f t ’s E le v a te
A m erica in itiativ e, O reg o n w ill re
c eiv e 16,875 v o u c h e rs fo r o n lin e
tra in in g , o n lin e te stin g , an d fo r
m o re a d v a n c e d le v el tra in in g :
E ach tra in in g v o u c h e r is re
d e e m a b le fo r free, o n lin e tra in in g
o n one M ic ro so ft W in d o w s V ista
o r o f th e p ro g ram s in th e M icro so ft
O ffice S uite.
A d v a n c e d lev el o n lin e tra in in g
v o u c h ers are re d e em a b le for tra in
in g fo r in d iv id u a ls on te c h n ic a l
p ro fe s sio n a l c a re e r tra c k s in ar-
eas su ch as w e b d e v e lo p m e n t o r
d a ta b a s e m a n a g e m e n t.
W o r k S o u r c e O r e g o n , th e
s ta t e ’s w o rk fo rc e s y s te m , w ill
a d m in is te r the E le v a te A m e ric a
p ro g ra m in O re g o n . E lig ib le p a r
tic ip a n ts m u st be u n e m p lo y e d and
re g is te re d w ith W o rk S o u rc e O r
e g o n . V o u c h e rs w ill b e p ro v id e d
on a first-c o m e , first-se rv e b a sis
fo r th o se e lig ib le .
O re g o n ia n s c an fin d o u t h ow to
a c c e ss th e p ro g ra m b y g o in g to
W o r k S o u r c e O r e g o n .o r g o r by
v is itin g th e ir lo cal W o rk S o u rc e
O re g o n C e n te r. -