By Jeremy Moore/ se news editor
Bogdan Sierra Miranda/The Collegian
Coming to TCC from Central Africa was far from easy for SE student Saran Kaba, but she stayed motivated to make it to graduation May 16.
Kaba moved to Texas in 2014 to live with her two older sisters and get a better education. After high school, she waited to move for a year and a half so her family could gather enough money for her trip.
French was her first language, but she learned English in only three months. When she came to Texas, she quickly realized the many ways she had to adjust.
“Coming here gave me a big cultural shock,” she said. “Back home was more about the community, but here it felt like everybody for themselves.”
Kaba grew up in Gabon, a country in Central Africa. Her parents believed their daughters would have better opportunities if they came to America.
For Kaba, life in Gabon consisted of two things: school and home. Going to school and helping her mom with whatever she needed is all she really did. Luxuries and different activities were expensive for her family because her father was the sole source of income.
She experienced a better quality of life in Texas, but leaving her parents behind wasn’t easy.
“Being here and seeing what my parents had to go through back home was a lot to deal with emotionally,” she said. “I couldn’t do anything to help them. Even now, my dad just went through surgery and is in the hospital sick. Airfare is very expensive, so I can’t even afford to travel back home to help my mom.”
Even though she can’t help her parents currently, Kaba has made it her goal to be able to help them one day. This goal motivates her to do as well as she can in school.
“My parents have always taken good care of me and still take good care of me now,” she said. “As soon as I have my own job, I just want to be able to take care of them.”
Kaba is the vice president of membership for Phi Theta Kappa on SE Campus as well as a representative on TCC’s student publications board. Joining Phi Theta Kappa helped her a lot in adjusting to TCC.
“Since I was new here, I felt like I needed an organization to help me succeed, and Phi Theta Kappa is an amazing community to be a part of,” she said. “When I joined, I got so much support from the advisers and officers that I decided to run to become the vice president of membership.”
Kaba is a chemical engineering major who’s minoring in petroleum engineering. After two years at TCC, she is now considering attending Texas A&M, Georgia Tech or the University of Minnesota.
“Graduating in two years, sometimes I wasn’t sure if it would be possible,” she said. “I stayed motivated, and now it feels amazing to know I’ll be graduating.”
Kaba enjoyed her experience at TCC. Out of all the great moments she had, her first day is most memorable.
“My first day gave me a feeling of challenge, but excitement too,” she said. “It was my first time entering school in the American system, which is way different from the African system. It was one of my happiest moments because I knew that some way I would succeed. Now I’m ready for my next chapter.”
