SFU grad proves ‘dreams come true’ as she turns 65

Once, in a land far from here, there was a time when a little girl would hold her mom’s hand as they walked to the library.

The library, a concrete bunker of a building by the sea, was miles and miles away. They would cross dry, prickly corn fields under a sweltering sun every week to get there, where the mother would seek out romance novels while the little girl disappeared to the fairy tale section.

This week, that little girl turned 65. She’ll graduate on Thursday from Simon Fraser University with a bachelor of arts degree.

For Rozy Karim, it’s a milestone not just in age and accomplishment, but also a marker in a journey that began as a book-loving little girl in East Africa who wound her way through an arranged marriage, ethnic cleansing, and being a single mother as a refugee in Canada.

“Dreams come true,” Karim said, the emotions raw still today.

“As a girl, I would read fairy tales and imagine myself in a foreign land where I could study in a ‘big school’ and where everyone lived happily ever after,” she said.

Fairy tales have their ogres, however. At 18, Karim was married to a man 11 years her senior who she barely knew. He moved her to violence-racked Rwanda in 1973, where warring Hutu and Tutsi were slaughtering each other, and innocents, indiscriminately.

The coronavirus may have led to the cancellation of high school graduation events, but The Vancouver Sun is hosting a celebration of the Class of 2020!

We’ll publish your contributions online, on our social media channels and in print on June 19.

How to participate:

1. Send us a photo of you, perhaps even wearing your amazing grad outfits, by tagging or mentioning @thevancouversun in your post on Instagram, or emailing it to vantips@postmedia.com.

2. Email us a short paragraph (100-200 words) describing your hopes for the future. Tell us your full name and the name of your school. Celebrate you!

Note: To be included in print editions, please send us your submission by June 12, with high-resolution photo.

ARLEN REDEKOP Rozy Karim, seen with grandchildren Liyam and Arya, has come along way since arriving in Canada as a refugee at age 19. She has raised three sons on her own, succeeded in business, and later this week at age 65, will receive a bachelor of arts degree from Simon Fraser University.