Sheila Njau came to Weymouth from Kenya six years ago to attend her aunt’s wedding but never went back to her home in Nairobi and graduated from Weymouth High School (WHS) on June 13 as class valedictorian.
“My sister Stephanie and I came here for my aunt’s wedding and we have been living with my grandmother ever since,” Sheila said.
Sheila and Stephanie had planned to return to Kenya, but her parents wanted them to live with their grandmother, Rachel Njiro, under the nation’s immigration sponsorship law so they could attend local schools.
Sheila faced some cultural hurdles while she lived in Weymouth, but these obstacles did not prevent her from succeeding at WHS.
“When I first came here, I would sit and not talk to anybody,” Sheila said. “The teachers did not realize I spoke English and they enrolled me in ESL. (English as a Second Language) I passed all the tests, and they then realized I could speak English.”
Swahili is Kenya’s national language, but English is spoken widely in the east African nation.
Sheila’s adjustment to American culture was especially difficult because she rarely saw Stephanie while attending classes.
“Everybody I met in my classes did not have my background,” Sheila said.
Sheila is now attending Hollins University in Roanoke, Va., where she is majoring in biology and psychology.
“I plan to become a surgeon,” she said.
Sheila plans to use her eventual surgical skills in a hospital and with Doctors Without Borders.
Source: Wicked Local Weymouth
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