Mariam Yassin
Mariam Yassin had to try for three years before she could get a visa to move to the United States and pursue her dream – helping animals.
“I've always loved animals,” said Yassin, who plans on becoming a veterinarian. “Nigeria is a harsh place and it can be tough when it comes to finding any sort of medical services for people as well as animals,” she said.
Her excellent academic works, enthusiastic personality and enjoyment for participating in extracurricular activities quickly made an impact on Guilford Technical Community College.
Yassin, who lives in High Point, was named GTCC's outstanding college transfer graduate during the college's graduation ceremony. She had a 4.0 grade point average, and was involved in several organizations on campus.
Yassin, who is both Nigerian and Lebanese, attended the Lebanon School in Kano, Nigeria, before moving to the United States. “I had thought about going to England and Australia but was glad to come here,” she said. GTCC was not foreign to her because her brother Yousef Yassin was attending school and living in Greensboro. He graduated from GTCC in 2008 with two degrees.
“Since the age of five when our German shepherd got run over and the vet came and performed surgery on our dog right on the front porch, I knew that was what I wanted to do (become a veterinarian),” she said. “I would like to establish a really good veterinarian place back home. When you can't find a good vet, that is heartbreaking for me,” Yassin said.
Yassin said her biggest fear in coming to school in the United States was that “I'd be in a class of 100. Thankfully that didn't happen. I had thought I would transfer after my first semester but I didn't – I fell in love with GTCC instead. I never got lost in a crowd.
“I knew that all of my instructors really cared about whether or not I succeeded and I've had several amazing professors whose passion for their topics was truly inspiring. I am so glad that I stayed because I got a great education and I got to be involved on campus,” she said.
After enrolling at GTCC, Yassin immediately became involved with the International Student Association. By the time she obtained her two-year degree, she had become a student Ambassador, vice-president for special events in the GTCC Student Government Association and one of only 30 students in the state chosen to attend the N.C. Student Leadership Institute at Peace College last summer.
She also was a member of Phi Theta Kappa honor society and was a student lab worker for the biology department. She also worked in the Student Life office.
Yassin has been accepted at N.C. State University for the animal science program, and hopes to be able to attend. She describes herself as being passionate not only about becoming a veterinarian but about learning.
“I love books and I love learning,” she said. “My father gave me a love for reading. ‘All of the answers can be found in a book; you have to look for them,'” he said.
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