College senior: ‘I’m the first to graduate in my family’
Simrah Awan, a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, has a lot on her mind.
Far from reveling in the excitement of her last year of college, Simrah joined her peers in heading home for the rest of the school year — in her case, moving from a downtown apartment to the family home in Franklin.
But home isn’t quite the same. Her mother, Faiza, went to Pakistan in February to attend the funeral of her father — Simrah’s grandfather. Now, she’s stuck there. The family thought she might be home last Monday, but her plane got canceled. She set up another flight; it got canceled as well. At this point, it’s unclear when her mother will get back.
Simrah’s father, Saleem, had planned to meet up with his wife; fortunately, he decided not to go because the coronavirus outbreak was starting to explode.
Still, “it’s a whirlwind of emotions,” Simrah said.
Her younger brother, Labeeb, is working on his high school classes from home. The family rushed to Chicago to move Simrah’s younger sister, Rameen, out of her dorm at Loyola University.
And Simrah is not just keeping up with her classes online, she’s remotely working an internship with the Milwaukee Bucks and running UWM’s largest student organization — the Lubar School chapter of the American Marketing Association.
“I think me being the oldest, I’ve always been independent and I kind of have to be that person who’s in charge,” Simrah said. “Handling my siblings, helping my dad out — I’m still basically working 9 to 5 and continuously working on other stuff afterwards.”
Still, questions linger: How long will her internship last? When will her mom get home? Will she and her friends graduate straight into unemployment? And will she ever walk the stage?
“It’s kind of sad. I’m the first to graduate in my family, I’m first-generation in America,” she said.
Her mother has been staying indoors and calling most evenings. That helps.
“I think taking it with a positive attitude is the only way to get through all of this, because otherwise everyone would just go crazy,” Simrah said.