By ROSS COURTNEY | Yakima Herald-Republiconline casino
SUNNYSIDE, WASHINGTON — Mawi Asgedom urged Sunnyside teenagers to set goals, work hard and focus on battles greater than their latest schoolyard spats.
“No matter what happens to you in life, don’t complain,” he told about 200 Sunnyside High School English and history students Wednesday in the school’s auditorium.
Asgedom, 32, was born in northern, rural Ethiopia during a civil war that lasted nearly 30 years. Rebel groups often conscripted boys as young as 12 and men as old as 65, he said, into battle against a socialist military junta.
“They don’t play over there when it comes to war,” he said.
Asgedom’s family of five fled to Sudan when he was 3 and lived three years in a refugee camp with no running water, electricity or paved roads. They were selected in a lottery by World Relief to come to the United States.
The married father of a 4-month-old baby boy considers himself lucky his family stayed together. He knows many that didn’t.
His ordeal wasn’t over. He was thrust into a Chicago-area school speaking only his native language of Tigrigna and bullied by other boys for his ethnic background.
Encouraged by his parents to persevere, Asgedom played sports and excelled in school. He later graduated from Harvard University and delivered the commencement address, with then-Vice President Al Gore sitting next to his mother, Tseg Asgedom, in the front row, he said.
On Wednesday, Sunnyside students alternately laughed at his jokes and fell silent during sad moments of the story, such as when he described how his mother had to chew food and spit it out so his baby sister could eat during their flight from Ethiopia.
Students left inspired to work harder and express more thanks, they said.
Sophomore Maria Cervantes said she sometimes grumbles about how hard high school is socially and academically.
“If I was to put myself in his position, it would be even harder,” she said.
Classmate Ana Guerrero vowed to study more.
“I’m a person that slacks off a lot,” she said with a laugh.
Asgedom chronicled his life saga in his book “Of Beetles and Angels: A Boy’s Remarkable Journey from a Refugee Camp to Harvard.” It’s publication in 2002 earned him a spot on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”
The Sunnyside School District purchased 500, giving away signed copies to about 350 to 400 to students and community members, said Dave Rodriguez, a graduation specialist at the high school. The rest will stay at the school for English and history classes.
Rodriguez said about 30 students each from the high school and the middle schools have been studying some of Asgedom’s motivational teachings for several weeks. The speaker met with them for a private workshop earlier in the day.
That’s when he really struck a chord with students, Rodriguez said. For example, many of them also struggle with poverty and displacement.
“That doesn’t have to be an excuse for you not to succeed,” he taught them, Rodriguez said.
The Sunnyside School District spent $12,500 to hire Asgedom, including the cost of 500 of his books. The district spent federal grant money designed to aid students with limited English skills.