There is an expression Darshini Roopnarine, Ph.D., likes to use with her students: “You got this.” Director of Le Moyne’s Collegiate Science, Technology and Engineering Program (CSTEP), Roopnarine often finds herself uttering those words – part affirmation, part command – to the young adults she works with every day. An upcoming graduate school interview … the difficult conversation you’re about to have with a friend or roommate … that calculus final worth 40 percent of your grade. In the face of all of these challenges, Roopnarine tells her students: “You got this.”
Zacharia Mohamed ’16 knows the maxim well. He has been on the receiving end of it many times. This spring Mohamed earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Le Moyne. He will enroll in the post-baccalaureate program at the University at Buffalo, after which he will continue on to Upstate Medical University to pursue his Doctor of Medicine. Roopnarine said that if there is anyone with the grace and fortitude to preserve through the aforementioned obstacles – and much weightier ones – it’s Mohamed.
“He focuses on the positive,” she said. “He thrives on what he’s doing and where he’s heading.”
The journey that eventually led Mohamed to medical school began when he was less than a year old. A civil war overtook his village in his native Somalia. In the midst of the chaos, the majority of his family became separated, but his sister, Shukri, then just 10 years old, managed to stay with him. Then, as she was trying to carry him to safety, a bullet struck her. With the aid of two Italian nurses assigned to the conflict zone, she recovered, and the siblings eventually made their way west to Kakuma Refugee Camp in Northwest Kenya, where they remained for the next 10 years.
Life in Kakuma was largely about survival. Its residents were busy making sure they had food, shelter and fresh water. Health care, like education, was a luxury, Mohamed said. While there was a small clinic in the camp, it was overwhelmed by need, short of staff and other vital resources like medication. Mohamed recalled seeing long lines of people waiting to receive treatment. Malnutrition, communicable disease outbreaks and malaria were known to be problems there.
“My sister took on the responsibility of making sure that I was healthy, including cooking, cleaning and providing safe drinking water,” he said. “Fortunately, and because of her care, I was able to avoid contracting the diseases that affected many of the people around us. For others, the consequences of limited medical assistance were dire.”
In 2005, Mohamed, along with his sister and infant nephew, came to the U.S. with the help of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and Catholic Charities. It opened up “a world of opportunities,” he said. For the first time, he was able to attend school, which was not possible in Kenya, and to learn to read and write. Mohamed thought about what his sister told him about the nurses who came to their aid in Somalia and what he witnessed in Kakuma. He knew how he wanted to leave his mark in the world – by becoming a doctor.
Mohamed also knew that the path would be a challenging one. He was still a student at Nottingham High School in Syracuse when his sister suffered a brain injury, losing her vision. Suddenly it was his turn to become the caregiver, translating, reading letters and making medical appointments for her. He also helped to care for her two sons, Ahmed and Mouk, who are now 14 and 10. With so many responsibilities, he did not initially know if he would be able to attend college. However, with the encouragement of several mentors, he applied to Le Moyne and joined CSTEP. It provided him with friendships and a strong foundation upon which to build his college career, as he and his classmates would work late into the night studying, sharing stories of their lives and dreams for the future, and occasionally reminding one another: "You got this."
Four years later, Mohamed is the first member of his family to graduate from college. Now he looks forward to becoming the first one to become a doctor. His long-term aim is to become a family physician and one day to provide care to men, women and children living in refugee camps. For Mohamed, success is not just about personal accomplishment. It is about giving back to others. That's what gives life meaning..
“Everyone has an incredible story to tell. You just have to get to know them,” he said. “My goal is to take my passion for medicine and be able to help people in need in order to give back and help others as my family and I have been helped.”
Learn More:
Our Values
Request Information