After 10 years, two continents, two children, Ghannam gets her degree

06/18/2021 ASHLAND, Ohio –When Fatimah Ghannam got married, she knew a move to the United States was ahead.

So when she was 20, she made the trip from her native Saudi Arabia to Ashland. Her husband, a computer science major, had already been through Access English classes at Ashland University and was fairly fluent.

His wife began those same classes, but started feeling ill. Turns out, she said, she was pregnant with their first child. Now, with a newborn daughter, Ghannam completed her English classes and decided to study dietetics.

“I always liked to learn, to learn about food, to cook, and I wanted to continue that,” she said. “If you like to help people, this major is about helping people.”

There was one significant roadblock: Ghannam had no real science background and dietetics was, after all, about the science of food. Facing down her first college chemistry class, her husband came up with the idea they enroll together. After all, computer science majors had science requirements to fulfill, too.

Attending class with a toddler at home was difficult enough, but Ghannam soon had another problem. “I’m throwing up every morning,” she said. “I told the professor, I’m sorry I am throwing up.” Though trying as hard as she could – and with faculty providing assistance when necessary – it became obvious Ghannam was not getting through another pregnancy while a full-time student.

And her government was no longer going to pay for her education. She returned home, now with a young daughter and a newborn son.

Still, she was determined. “I told my friends here, I will be back,” she said.

It wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

For more than two years, Ghannam lived in Saudi Arabia with her family, waiting for her government to give her permission to return to the U.S. and to her studies. In 2018, it seemed like she was getting her wish. Her AU classes were scheduled --- but her visa didn’t come through. She dropped her classes rather than risk being charged for courses she couldn’t be there to take.

But 2019 turned out to be Ghannam’s lucky year. Visa in hand, she returned to classes – including the dreaded chemistry class. “It is hard. I thought I cannot do it,” she said. But with the help of faculty, friends and her husband, she cleared the hurdle. She said she was lucky for the opportunities Ashland, and particularly its faculty, afforded her.

And by the spring of 2021, Ghannam was in her cap and gown, ready for commencement. It was a long road, she said. Her daughter is 8 now, her son 5. Her husband is finishing his master’s degree at a nearby Ohio college.  Because of COVID-19, there have been no trips home for a few years. During that time, Ghannam lost her grandmother, but was unable to return for the funeral.

At this point, she looks forward to returning to her home just outside Riyadh and to working in a clinical setting there. She made many friends during her time in Ashland, including fellow Saudi students. “I see a lot of Saudi students. I see a lot of diversity,” she said. “I see a lot of women like me, so I am not alone.

“Overall, people (in Ashland) are friendly. They are nice. … I feel like I belong to this place. I’ve been here a long time.”

But now, Ghannam said, it’s time to start the next chapter, degree in hand. After 10 years, two children and a lot of hard work, she said, “I can’t believe I did it.”

Ashland University is a mid-sized, private university conveniently located a short distance from Akron, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio. Ashland University (www.ashland.edu) offers each of its student constituencies The Ashland Promise, including “teaching students how to think, not what to think”. Committed to affordability, the University now offers incoming residential freshman the Tuition Relief Scholarship, as well as a variety of new forms of financial assistance for both new and continuing students. ###