Sacrifice led to mother and daughter earning degrees on same day: ‘Education is everything’

DALLAS — Ndeye Ndaw and Awa Sy aren’t the typical college friends graduating together.

Sure they helped each other through difficult assignments, set up study times and pointed out which professors they liked the best.

But this mother-daughter duo also reminded each other that perseverance will allow you to reach your dream — even if you have to move halfway around the world to do it.

The two earned degrees from the University of Texas at Arlington on the same day this December. Ndaw completed her master’s in social work, while Sy earned her bachelor’s in communications.

Ndaw couldn’t hold back the tears when posing for pictures with her daughter after graduation — the two dressed in black caps and gowns trimmed with the university’s blue and orange.

She recalled how the path through college was anything but typical for the two, whose respective journeys were marked by political unrest, family responsibilities and medical concerns.

“It’s hard, but you have to never give up and take your own time to success,” Ndaw said. “It’s not what you sacrifice, but what you achieve when you work toward your goal.”

Ndaw, 52, grew up in Senegal. By the time she finished high school, the country was relatively stable but political tensions were often palpable. Her father wanted all nine of his children to study at a university, repeatedly saying, “Education is the key to success.”

But the political climate made it difficult for Ndaw. In the late 1980s, there were allegations of election fraud and sometimes violent clashes between government officials and protesters. Meanwhile, ethnic conflicts along the border had Senegal and Mauritania on the verge of war.

So she left the West African country and moved to the

Ivory Coast, where she worked as a lab technician on an AIDS research project. Ndaw said much of her work was through the U.S. Embassy, which meant she and her husband could travel to America. The couple saw the opportunities here — particularly for college — so they applied for the hard-to-win immigration lottery.

The diversity immigration visa lottery receives millions of applications each year. In 2018, for example, there were 14.7 million entries, but only about 50,000 were approved.

In 2003, Ndaw’s husband was selected in the lottery, so the family moved to New York briefly before settling in Irving. It was scary at first with no one but strangers around, Ndaw said.

Raising her three daughters was a priority for Ndaw, who worked as a technician for a blood bank. She had little free time.

When her kids were old enough to be more self-sufficient, she began taking classes at a community college. At first, it was just to work on improving her English writing skills. Ndaw kept telling herself to go just a little bit more to earn an associate’s degree. And then a little bit more to earn her bachelor’s.

Ndaw had her sights on a biology degree so she could continue work in the health field. But the French speaker struggled in advanced science classes, largely because of language gaps. She was disheartened but determined to find a fit. Then an adviser suggested social work, explaining how in such a career she could help patients navigate the complex health care system.

She had a new goal. And that meant juggling a fulltime job, four or five classes and her family life. Often, she couldn’t tackle her homework until after the rest of the family went to bed. Sometimes she only had three hours of sleep.

“When everything got hard and I wanted to quit, I thought of my father. I did this for him,” Ndaw said, tearing up. “And for my children.”