 
Imagine that you have to leave your home for another country
because of war and violence, fleeing with your family and what
few possessions you can salvage. Imagine living in temporary shelters
amidst thousands of other people, many of them orphaned children,
with limited access to food, medicine, clean water and education.
For Smith School junior Foday Sackor, this was not imaginary—it was
real.
Seven years ago, Sackor left Budumburam Refugee Camp in Ghana,
where he and his family had fled to escape persecution in his native
Liberia, and started a new life in the United States. As ethnic
Mandingos, Sackor and his family faced discrimination, arbitrary
arrests, and violence from rebel groups. “Being in a war is
something I don’t wish on anyone,” says Sackor, “but the experience
shaped my life. In the refugee camp we ate the same thing—soup and
bread—every day for months. It has made me appreciate all the little
things of my life, from the food I eat to the clothes I wear.”
When he came to the U.S., the first thing that struck him was the
weather. “It’s hot all the time in Liberia,” Sackor says. “It was
hard to get used to the cold. But I knew we were coming to the best
country in the world, with the best educational system in the world.
Everybody dreams of coming to America, so when I got the chance I
was overjoyed.”
Sackor is the recipient of a 2005 Chevy Chase Bank scholarship,
which was a significant factor in Sackor’s decision to transfer from
Montgomery College to the University of Maryland. “When my family
came from Liberia, we didn’t have the financial resources to send me
to college. Without scholarships, I wouldn’t have been able to go to
school here.”
Sackor is a great addition to the Smith School community. He was
elected a junior representative to the Smith School at Shady Grove
and was elected president of the Universities at Shady Grove
Association. He also started his own business, Academic Scholar
Tutor, which provides math tutoring to Montgomery College students
taking remedial and advanced math courses as well as students at
Northwest, Watkins Mill, and Seneca Valley High Schools. Sackor
works with two fellow Smith School students, who are partners in the
company, and between seven and 15 tutors. Sackor manages payroll as
well as scheduling and programming. Although he tries to keep his
commitments down during the semester, so he can focus on classes,
the business keeps expanding: Sackor is currently working on a deal
to provide tutoring to 72 children at a local community center. |
