A visa lottery changed this Monmouth U student's life

WEST LONG BRANCH – When Sana Rashid and her family flew from Pakistan to New Jersey 14 years ago, she spoke almost no English.

Here she felt overwhelmed by a new language, a new culture, even new food.

Then just 8 years old, Rashid was stressed by the experience, but her journey opened new opportunities for the now 22-year-old from Ocean Township.

Rashid graduated from Monmouth University this week with a degree in chemistry and a focus on healthcare. Later this year, she will begin the next phase of her education at Rowan University's School of Osteopathic Medicine.

None of that would not have happened if a visa lottery had not picked her family to move to the United States more than a decade ago, she said. Each year the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, which selected Rashid's family, chooses 50,000 people from countries who have low rates of immigration into the United States.

"I feel like moving from different schools is already so difficult for someone so young, but moving to a different country with a different language, a different culture" was difficult, said Rashid. "Even the food is so different that you don't know what you can and what you can't eat."

Yet she has successfully adapted and flourished.

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Years of English classes have removed nearly all traces of her accent. Rashid is now a successful public speaker, a quality she attributes to her participation in Monmouth University's Student Government Association. The program helped build her confidence, so much so she became a member of the university's debate team and helped coach another debate team at Asbury Park High School.

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Occasionally, she returns to Pakistan to visit friends and family, but she knew she would not attend college there.

"I knew that I wanted to stay in New Jersey" she said, adding that New Jersey provided a "better chance of a better education."

Rashid said she was able to attend Monmouth University through scholarships and the state Educational Opportunity Fund, a program that provides financial and academic support to students from low-income families or communities.

Her memories of living in Pakistan, being bilingual and having lived in two cultures, "all that contributes to who I am today," she said. "(And) being at Monmouth... has changed me in a positive way, and I think that's definitely something I'm going to carry with me the rest of my life."

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Amanda Oglesby: 732-557-5701; aoglesby@GannettNJ.com