Alumnus Shares His Amazing Story

By David R. Kazak
Daily Herald Staff Reporter
November, 1999

The messages in a motivational speech given to the Wheaton North High School freshmen class Friday were likely old hat.

Don't drink and drive. Success comes from taking risks. Believe in yourself.

But those messages sunk in because the messenger—Ethiopian refugee, former Wheaton North student and Harvard graduate Mawi Asgedom—was like no one they'd ever seen before.

"I hope you find my stories entertaining and interesting," Asgedom said, speaking above the murmur coming from the crowd that filled North's auditorium.

"But mostly, I hope you find it inspiring," he said.

With that, he launched into the story of his life, beginning with his childhood in Ethiopia, where his familiy was separated by civil war and reunited only after they had all fled to Sudan.

Asgedom ended up in Wheaton, he told the students, thanks to the help of a local church. But while life here is wondrous by comparison, it still will be difficult.

His father, a doctor in Africa, could only work as a janitor here. The family knew little English. And, as he pointed out, authorities don't just hand out driver's licenses.

As his story progressed, the students grew more attentive, listening to the fascinating, true tale unwind. Peppered between Asgedom's words were his messages.

Showing respect was hard, he said, when "mean kids" made fun of him, yelled at him to go back to Africa. His only outlet was to fight until he was almost kicked out of school.

So as he progressed through Wheaton's elementary and middle schools, he endured the taunts, showing only respect back, he said. But high school was looming, and he faced some hard questions.

"One voice was saying 'High school is going to eat you up and spit you out,'" he said. "But another part of me was saying, 'You've worked hard. Go for it.'"

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