Sandrien 'Sandy' Mekan is just one of 62 recipients of the award. She is the daughter of Arabic-speaking Chaldean refugees who fled Iraq during Saddam Hussein's regime.
Sandrien"Sandy" Mekany on Wednesday became San Diego State University's first recipient of the Harry S. Truman graduate scholarship, one of 62 in the nation.
She is the daughter of Arabic-speaking Chaldean refugees who fled Iraq during Saddam Hussein's regime. She said she struggled to pick up the English language and faced discrimination due to her background in the years following 9/11 and the War on Terror."I was too scared to speak up, because who's going to defend me? I'm a little kid," Mekany said."I wanted to meet the idea of what was considered `American enough' in the eyes of my peers and my community.
Mekany is a senior and an Associated Students officer whose extracurricular activities include mentoring and tutoring younger students for the International Rescue Committee, a non-profit focused on refugees, migrants and asylum seekers. Mekany received the award in an unannounced visit to her political science class last Thursday from SDSU President Adela de la Torre, Provost Salvador Hector Ochoa and other school officials, according to the university."Sandy's an incredibly hard-working scholar," de la Torre said."She is clearly passionate about the issue of educational access and equity, particularly for those whose voices are seldom heard.
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