Refugee Wins Prom Escort

Nadia Imanishimwe, an African immigrant who came to the U.S. from a refugee camp knowing no English, saw her fortune change last week when a local motorcycle club paid her way to the prom in a limo.

Nadia, a senior on the honor roll at Hillhouse High School, won the Presidents Motorcycle Club’s second annual senior prom award.

The club paid for her prom ticket, dress, hair, and limo for her and her friends escorted to the prom by our motorcycles last Thursday. Nadia said she would not have been able to afford a prom ticket without the club’s help.

Students had to apply for the award by writing an essay. Nadia wrote about her experience growing up in a refugee camp. The text of her essay follows:

I am an immigrant from Africa, Burundi. I came here because of the war that is going on in my native country. Growing up in a refugee camp was not exactly all bad. I grew up with one pair of shoes and two pairs of pants, one shirt and one dress that my mom said I could wear only on special occasions. At first, I thought that I was not going to make it without my servants and the beautiful life I had before the war in my small native country, Burundi. But this was the reality, so I had no choice but to survive there. Every morning before school started at 7:45 a.m. I had to wake up early to go fetch water for my family. I was still expected to make it to school on time or I would get lashes. However, these things did not make me angry: it made me come to the epiphany that life is not as innocent and peaceful as I once thought it was.

I had to start my whole life all over again — new language, new people, and new environment once more School in America was very complex. How was I going to compete with students who were born speaking English, when I did not know how to even say ​“Hi!” in English? Nevertheless, I did not make that an excuse to fail. Therefore, I was determined that when it came to my education and success, nothing could stop me from achieving at the highest level. I remember going to Elizabeth C. Adams Middle School in Guilford. My eighth grade English teacher, Mrs. Dillon, always gave us SAT words to study. For me it was particularly difficult to learn them because I did not even know the basic words in English. Yet, when it came time for the test, I never received below a ninety. Living in America as an immigrant has proven to be very challenging to me. I am required to read, take tests, and write in English even though [it] is not my first language. However, my motivation to achieve helped me to overcome. I would not have been able to survive in America if I had not had all the prior experiences of being a refugee.

My inspirations come from all my struggles that I experienced as a young child. Forgetting the trials that I endured growing up would be betraying myself. These difficult periods are the ones that taught me the most. I work hard and appreciate life as I have it because at any given moment it might change for the better of for the worse. Either way, I have to take what life brings me. I am dedicated to my education and focused with a mindset to accomplish my career goal.

As a senior, I am supposed to go on senior trips and to prom. Since I cannot afford these things, I cannot have the full American Dream. Receiving the Presidential Senior Award would mean everything to me. I worked through any hardships and not once did I ever let anything get in my way. For once, I can be able to act like a kid, since my childhood was taken from me a long time ago.