North Central senior Ruwaida Abbas realizes goals as she heads to university

“Write your name …,” her English language teacher asked her, “in English.”

The Arabic-speaking freshman stared back down at the blank page. Her own thoughts began to taunt her, and tears trickled down her cheeks, spotting where her name belonged – Ruwaida Abbas.

This would not be the first challenge Abbas would overcome, or the last.

“I started to say OK, it’s really difficult,” Abbas said. “But I can do it.”

And over the past four years, Abbas’ perseverance would continue to prove that she could.

She could learn English; could be the first person in her family to graduate from high school; and could be accepted into a university.

All of which she’s accomplished.

Abbas began her high school career at Ferris High School in the Newcomer Center, an English learning program, and continued the rest of her career at North Central High School.

High school came after sixth grade as her family had to leave their home city of Baghdad to flee violence.

Her father was a truck driver in the capital city and was shot in the leg while working. After initial treatments, his leg was not healing properly, and the Iraqi doctor suggested amputation.

Her uncle then took her father to Turkey for better medical care. There, a plastic bag was found in his leg and her father underwent 24 surgeries.

Once returning home from Turkey, however, the violence continued. So Abbas and her family of 10 grabbed the little they could and moved to Turkey for two years before immigrating to the United States.

Through her family’s journey toward a better life, Abbas said, she’s become a new person.

“(Now I’m) a person who has dreams, a person who really wants to work hard,” Abbas said. “A person who doesn’t like to give up and always has a goal.”

And that goal is to go to college to become a neurologist, so no person experiences a doctor like her father’s, she said.

Her goal will be actualized in the fall at Eastern Washington University, where the 19-year-old plans to study pre-med coursework.

One of the people who helped Abbas reach her goal is Julie-Ann Pearson, her College Success Foundation scholar program adviser. The program helps 100 junior and senior lower-income and first-generation students get into college.

“Ruwaida is one of the sweetest students I’ve probably ever had in my almost five years of being a college success adviser at North Central,” Pearson said. “She’s just very, very thoughtful and a joy to be in the room. She’s just very engaged and gets stuff done.”

Even if that means waking up at 4 in the morning – which she does regularly to get the rest of her homework done, go to zero hour, and then start her normal day.

A normal day includes six classes, cross country or tennis practice depending on the season and then helping her family with errands and bills as she is the oldest English speaker in the house.

“Easy day,” Abbas said, smiling.