in words my own “I learned how to fish, how to make friends, how important school is, and most importantly, I learned English.”
Kathleen Dooher When I first started school, at six years old, on the small island in the Aegean called Paros Island, I never thought I would be in the United States or even in college. See, where I come from, not many people get the chance to pursue higher education after high school. Many work at their parents’ farms or join the army. Many choose to run away from home and join a gang, pursuing a life on the streets. I am happy to be here, and I consider my life very good. I sometimes think back on how I came to be and remember all the obstacles I had to overcome to reach the United States and reach <strong>Regis</strong> <strong>College</strong>. The day I was born in Albania was the day that the old government was overthrown. There were strikes and flags burning on the streets. It was freezing that day. Life was unbearable. I remember my mom telling me stories of my father and grandfather having to wake up at 5 a.m. every morning to wait in line for milk. The economy was very bad, and poverty was in every corner. About a year after I was born, my family and I moved to Greece, to the small island of Paros. I spent nine years of my life there, and I learned many useful skills. I learned how to fish, how to make friends, how important school is, and most importantly, I learned English. Every summer, people from Ireland, Canada, England, and the United States would flood the seaside restaurants. One of those restaurants was owned by my friend’s aunt, and she let me help out. I took English in school so I could understand it pretty well. It was amazing living there. There was never snow, and the weather was always good. The summer was booming with tourism and money was pouring in. The winters, though, were the worst. There was always a drought in the winter. Jobs were hard to keep and even harder to find. This was one of the reasons why my parents decided to move to the United States. I came here about seven years ago, and I entered the eighth grade at the Watertown Middle School. My vocabulary was made up of elementary sentences with a thick European accent. I barely remember school because that year my mom was diagnosed with leukemia. I missed a lot of classes, but I still managed to pass. When I entered high school my mom was getting better, and so I got a little more time to focus on my schoolwork. I was doing fairly well in most of my classes, but English was the hardest for me. I started staying after school a lot with my ESL teachers hoping I would get better. With every day that passed and with every friend I made I learned more about the United States, and my English improved a lot. I was a very different person back then. I think a big turning point in my life was my junior year in high school. That’s the year I thought of myself as a fluent English speaker, and that’s the year I think I matured the most. I started putting friends and sports aside and started focusing on my schoolwork. My junior and senior years my GPA skyrocketed, and amazingly I was one of the top students in my English class. Senior year came really fast. in my own words Where I'm From, Where I’m Going By SEMI SPAhILLARI ’13 I started thinking about college and what I was going to do with my life. I didn’t have any special skills, I was more of a Jack-of-all-trades. I enjoyed learning new things, and I liked variety. There was one trade that I thought I could do very well in and that I found very interesting, and that was business. I could picture myself in a business suit making million-dollar deals every day. Another thing I liked was theater. Before I applied to any colleges, I made up my mind that I wanted to pursue business management as a major and theater as a minor. I fell in love with <strong>Regis</strong> when I took a tour and met with the coach and the theater coordinator. It had everything I would want in a college, and I was ecstatic to have been accepted here. This year, I applied to be a resident assistant and also an orientation leader. I think this will help me grow as a leader and teach me communication with my peers and a good work ethic. I know that with the knowledge I am getting here I will achieve great things one day. 7 FALL 10
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