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| Fadya Basha |
More than 2,100 students are graduating from Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges in June. Here is the story of one of them.
You’re never too old to learn. Just ask Fadya Basha, an Iraqi immigrant who, at age 74, will be the oldest graduate walking across the stage at Cuyamaca College’s June 8 Commencement.
You’re never too old to learn. Just ask Fadya Basha, an Iraqi immigrant who, at age 74, will be the oldest graduate walking across the stage at Cuyamaca College’s June 8 Commencement.
“If you are
learning, you are growing,” said Basha, who has learned her way to an associate
degree in Arabic Studies and Communication and Language Arts – with honors. “You have to always
grow. You should always be learning.”
Said her
youngest son, Firas Najeeb, a dentist living in Las Vegas: “I’m really proud of
her. She is a true inspiration for everybody in our family.”
Basha said
she was just looking to improve her English when she enrolled in a Cuyamaca
College ESL class about seven years ago. Before too long, though, the ESL
course led to other classes, including public speaking, speech and debate, and
composition. Then came courses in Arabic
and mathematics, art and exercise. She began
her journey in 2011, and would have graduated sooner, but she took time off on several occasions for the birth of
a new grandchild.
Basha moved to El Cajon in July of 2009 following the death of her longtime husband, who had a successful career in the banking industry. “It’s not too safe for a woman to stay alone in Iraq,” said Fadya, who added she had urged her husband to move with her to the United States long before 2009.
“It was very
bad, it was very dangerous in Iraq,” she said. “For everyone. Sometimes you
walk in the street and, boom! A bomb explodes. But my husband was a bank manager.
He had a good job.”
But adjusting
to life in a new country presented more than its share of challenges. Language
being foremost among them.
“I knew
English very little. When I go to the doctor, I took my cousin to help me. When
I go to the Social Security office, I have to take my son or a friend. I want
to be independent. So I came to Cuyamaca to learn English.”
Staying in
school after her English improved was a no-brainer. “I like to learn,” Basha
said. “When I come to Cuyamaca, I feel 10 years younger.”
Before too
long, she was a full-time student, often studying past midnight. “I take class
seriously,” Basha said. “I am the oldest one in the class and I don’t want the
teacher to ask me a question and not know the answer. I don’t want people to
say, ‘she doesn’t know because she’s too old.’”
Despite such
concerns, her years at Cuyamaca College have been filled with nothing but
respect. “The students treat me like anybody else. All the teachers here are very
good. We get along very well.”
“I will be
sad when I graduate. I love it here too much,” Basha said.
