草莓污视频导航

June 4, 2021

Class of 2021: Far from home, she's passionate about helping refugees find their way

International student Goundo Diarra has a big dream and an undaunted approach to adventure, hard work and determination to succeed
A woman stands in a floral dress and a graduation cap in front of some bushes

In 2017, a few weeks into her first semester at 草莓污视频导航, Goundo Diarra boarded a city bus at Brentwood Station with the expectation that she鈥檇 be back in her nearby campus dorm within a few minutes. Growing up in Mali, Nigeria, Senegal and Kenya where, Diarra says, she was familiar with a generally less reliable but far more flexible transit system, she realized too late that she鈥檇 boarded the bus on the wrong side of the road.

She eventually asked, and was reassured by the driver that, yes, she would arrive back at the university. Three hours and one circuitous city tour later, she was home.

Diarra, who calls herself a 鈥済lobal citizen,鈥 laughs about the experience now but, as she graduates with a combined Bachelor of Arts degree (honours) in International Relations and Anthropology, she says she鈥檚 found its inherent metaphor enduringly useful and inspiring. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter how long it takes you to get there,鈥 she says. 鈥淛ust keep going and enjoy the journey 鈥 you鈥檒l get to your destination.鈥   

Indeed, Diarra has approached her academic experience 鈥 thousands of miles away from her family in Mali 鈥 with remarkable curiosity, courage and passion. She left western Africa to come on her own to university in Calgary where she was determined to complete a five-year degree in four years.

鈥淚 took six courses most semesters and two each spring,鈥 says Diarra. As well, she volunteered for the Students' Union, the Student Conduct Office and served as a student mentor with International Student Services. Along the way, she鈥檚 made lifelong friends, embraced the cold weather and added beginner Arabic to the list of languages she speaks (including French, Spanish, Swahili and Bamanankan). As well, she says, she discovered that 鈥渢hroughout this whole experience and in life in general, it鈥檚 the connections you make that will contribute to your success.鈥

This fall, Diarra will begin graduate school at Carleton University in Ottawa. Her ultimate career dream is an extraordinary and ambitious one: 鈥淚鈥檝e known since I was very young that I wanted to work with refugees 鈥 I want to take the position of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.鈥 She intends to be part of a significant increase in the number of women at that level of administration 鈥 and, most importantly, she wants to make a lasting difference in how refugees are perceived, welcomed and empowered.

No doubt, she鈥檒l make the most of her adventure in getting there.

草莓污视频导航 convocation

Congratulations, Class of 2021!

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