This is the first in a series of articles about a Reston family's long journey from Iran to the United States.
A "Support Our Troops" bracelet is snug around his wrist, but Loghman Fattahi was not born in this country. As a matter of fact, his first school tried to teach him to hate the United States.
"In Iran there is this whole government tirade against the U.S.," said 18-year-old Fattahi, a senior at South Lakes High School. "It's an institutional problem. At school, the slogan you always see is, 'Death to America.'" However, Fattahi said he never developed an anti-American sentiment. "For some reason, I always had this intuitive connection to the United States," he said.
Fattahi was an elementary school student in Iran when he studied under such conditions. Today he is a senior at South Lakes High School and, like most seniors, he is attempting to plan the next step in his life. He is enrolled in the International Baccalaureate program at the school. Unlike most seniors, he is the president of the It's Academic Club, the vice president of the Debate Club and the vice president of the National Honor Society. He is also a mentor at South Lakes, helping freshmen assimilate to the new surroundings at the school. "I am usually assigned to the [English proficient] students, because I can relate to them," he said. Fattahi came to this country six-and-a-half years ago, not speaking any English. Today he is applying to some of the nation's top colleges, with a goal of one day becoming a U.S. diplomat.
"I just got deferred from Georgetown," he said with a hint of disappointment. However, Fattahi is yet to hear from five other schools before he makes a decision where he will be in the fall. James Madison University and Mary Washington College are his safety schools, while he hopes to get accepted to the University of Virginia, Princeton or Harvard. "I want to major in international relations, and those four colleges [Georgetown, UVA, Princeton and Harvard] are the best, at least in this part of the United States," said Fattahi. "Also, they provide financial assistance. If they did not I would not even have dreamt of applying to any of those schools."
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE is important to Fattahi and his family. The family — nomadic farmers from Kermanshah, a Kurdish province in Iran — did not come to the United States by their free will, but rather as political and religious refugees. The family of six had to start life all over again when it landed in Nashville, Tenn., in May, 2000.
Fattahi recently boosted his chances of attending a top-rated college when he was chosen as the winner of a $10,000 college scholarship. The Fairfax County-based In Hope Freedom Rings Foundation awarded Fattahi the scholarship based on an essay he wrote about his journey from Kermanshah to Reston. He was one of two students to win the scholarship. Andrew Yu of Lake Braddock Secondary School was the other winner.
"It was fairly competitive," said Marie Assir, a career resource specialist at South Lakes. "There was at least one entry from every single high school in Fairfax County." Assir said Fattahi's academic performance at South Lakes is impressive. "It's pretty amazing for him to be at the level where he is now," said Assir.
Fattahi said his entire family was thankful for the scholarship. "I was really happy. That's quite a lot of money," he said.
SOUTH LAKES PRINCIPAL Bruce Butler said Fattahi is a quiet leader with a great sense of humor. "Loghman is an incredibly special young man. A brilliant intellect, but even a bigger heart," said Butler. "It's amazing, having been through what he's been through and still having this positive, get things done, outlook."
What Loghman Fattahi and his family have been through is a road of political persecution, imprisonment, torture, exile, escape and international smuggling. A long road from nomadic farming in Iran to college applications in Reston.
<lst>Next week read about the Fattahi family's life in Iran and journey to the U.S.