By David Simpson
On May 6, 年仅19岁的Fozi Alkaifi将从old Dominion大学毕业，获得数学学士学位. That’s notable in itself, but there’s more.
同一天，他就读公共卫生专业、21岁的妹妹西娜(Seena)也将获得奖学金 her bachelor’s from ODU.
And so will their sister Sana, 24, who’s studying psychology.
没错:Alkaifi的名字将在S大会上被宣布至少三次.B. Ballard Stadium.
“It’s the Year of Graduation for the family!” Seena said with a laugh.
They’ve been through a lot to get here. Through it all – fleeing civil war in Yemen, moving to America, adjusting to the culture, enrolling in new schools, finding academic paths, 经受住了COVID-19疫情的关闭——他们从一个强大的来源获得了力量:彼此.
“Family is first,” Fozi said. “Family is important.”
In early 2015, warplanes fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen bombed the southwestern city of Taiz, where the Alkaifi family lived – five children and their mother. At the time, their father and oldest brother were out of the country.
孩子们在祖父的房子外面和他们的堂兄弟玩耍时感受到了爆炸, Fozi remembered.
“We saw the smoke coming up, and I told all my cousins, 'Come in! Come in! Come in!’ And they just started running up into the house. And you know, when a bomb occurs, the shaking of the house continues. 当炸弹爆炸时，会有几次爆炸，而不仅仅是这一次. It explodes, and then it explodes again and the house shakes.”
That wasn’t their first such experience. One day, a shell exploded near the school Sana and Seena attended.
“有一个巨大的噪音，整个学校都疯了，”西娜说. “我们当时在桌子下面，我清楚地记得所有女孩的脸. It was terrifying.”
Making matters worse, 他们家离交通运输部只有一条街的距离, Seena said, 这是一个主要目标，仓库里存放着用于修建公路和铁路的炸药.
“所以如果发生什么事，我们的房子就在它旁边，”福齐说.
They knew they had to get out.
“It was urgent,” Sana said.
The Alkaifis were more fortunate than many of their neighbors. They had a safe place to go.
他们的父亲是一名外籍人士，自1998年以来一直住在诺福克，是军事海运司令部的首席电工. Before civil war broke out in his home country, he would visit Yemen for a month every year or two, his children said. 作为一名平民，他大部分时间都在为美国服务的船只上度过.S. Navy ships and bases.
Their mother is a stay-at-home mom who was 萨娜说:“爸爸不在的时候，我们的妈妈和爸爸同时来了。.
Despite the upheaval of moving in 2015, Seena said, the siblings began to adapt to their new situation. 他们进入了学校，最终从诺福克的格兰比高中毕业.
到了上大学的时候，他们每个人都选择和家人呆在一起.
“Family is first. Family is important.” – Fozi Alkaifi
萨娜最初是潮水社区学院医学实验室的学生, later transferring to Old Dominion University to study psychology.
Seena and Fozi came to ODU together as first-year students. 西娜一开始学的是口腔卫生，但很快就转到了公共卫生专业. Fozi进入土木工程专业，然后转到大数据分析专业, a major within the Department of Mathematics and Statistics.
他们说，属于一个关系紧密的家庭帮助他们应对了这些变化. 虽然他们的父亲经常不在家，但他的孩子们看到他的次数比以前多了.
“我个人喜欢这里，”西娜说，“因为我可以和爸爸一起体验生活. It's like he's closer here than when we were back in Yemen.”
在ODU，他们很高兴能找到来自各种背景的学生.
“ODU is so diverse,” Sana said, “我觉得每次看到中东人或来自我国家的人，我都会说, ‘Oh, I still have family here as well.’”
“You would see people interested in learning about you as well,” Seena said, “and that's something I love. If I feel welcomed or your curiosity toward me is really positive, that's something that I enjoy teaching others about.”
他们都能说一口流利的英语，都是在老家的私立学校里学的. Still, some social situations have been hard.
“When we first came here, it was a cultural shock,” Seena said. “Like, you don't know how to act. What to do? 开玩笑也好，说话也好，都很难，即使我英语很好.”
But they know where they can turn for easy, deep communication.
Fozi said: “My escape is just, ‘Oh – my siblings! I can go back and just be me.’”
Though pursuing different majors and interests, all three have excelled in the classroom. And all three have worked as tutors for the College of Sciences.
“They have all been amazing,” said Andrea Stephen, manager of science support services in the Science Tutoring Centers. “Each of them is very dependable and responsible. 他们能够在保持成绩的同时帮助那些在课程中遇到困难的学生.”
Sana辅导学生心理学，Seena辅导化学，Fozi辅导数学.
“我对教学充满热情，”西娜说，“所以我想，好吧，让我做这件事，帮助别人.”
“我喜欢看到学生们在通过考试后的快乐——在他们努力之后得到了一个好成绩,” Fozi said.
Sana在一门艰难的心理学课程《bet8体育娱乐入口》(Quantitative Methods)中取得优异成绩后，Seena和Fozi招募了她.
“我的姐姐和哥哥说，‘你为什么不直接教那门课，就像家教一样? Because there's a psychology tutoring place,’” Sana said. “I was like, ‘OK, I've seen the students struggle in that class and how hard it was, and I should help others as well.’”
Besides tutoring, Seena曾是Erika Frydenlund和Lydia Cleveland s
Fozi和计算机科学系的孙江文在《bet8体育娱乐入口》上发表了一篇关于生物信息学的论文，并希望在今年夏天和物理系的Felix Ringer一起发表一篇论文. 今年8月，福齐将开始在里士满的Capital One公司担任数据分析师. 与此同时，他想上物理课，并可能攻读博士学位.D. in mathematical physics.
Sana是一名自雇摄影师，最近一直在为其他即将毕业的学生拍照. 她在诺福克的巴里罗宾逊中心有一份助教的工作等着她. Long term, 她正在考虑申请ODU的心理学硕士课程，为从事临床心理学工作做准备, with a focus on children.
As the Alkaifis finish their last semester, their father has managed to get leave to attend graduation.
It will be a grand day. 但5月6日并不意味着奥巴马家族在奥大的传奇故事就此结束.
Another brother – Magdi – is just behind them. 斯特罗姆商学院信息系统与技术专业毕业, he’s due to graduate in 2024.
他们最小的弟弟拉姆齐今年春天将从格兰比高中毕业. He has been accepted at ODU and is weighing the offer. But as far as his siblings are concerned, his course is clear.
“我告诉他接受它，因为你必须遵循历史，”福齐说.
“That’s right," Seena said, laughing. “People exit, new ones have gotta come in.”