5,000 miles apart: Nebraska Wesleyan student fears for Ukrainian family
Imagine trying to focus in class while your home country is under attack. That nightmare has become a reality for one Ukrainian student at Nebraska Wesleyan.
LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Imagine trying to focus in class while your home country is under attack.
That nightmare has become reality for Nebraska Wesleyan student Yuliia Iziumova, who grew up in Ukraine.
“I was just with my friends doing homework, normal evening, and [my mom] texted me saying that things are getting really bad and it’s real war,” Iziumova recalled.
Yuliia grew up in a small town called Chornomorsk in Ukraine, which borders the Black Sea.
Her hometown is about a six-hour drive from Kiev, where the Russian invasion began days ago, roughly the same distance between Lincoln and Colorado.
Chronomorsk is nearly 5,600 miles from Lincoln.
“I think the first thing that comes to mind is being scared, being frustrated, upset, devastated,” Yuliia said. “To me, looking at all the events, it’s heartbreaking, because we did not ask for it.”
Yuliia says she and her family have been aware that a Russian invasion of Ukraine was a possibility ever since the annexation of Crimea in 2014.
“We knew we had a conflict with Russia, we knew that they were a big country and if they wanted to showcase their power, they would,” she said. “But at the same time, it’s never been this close to home, per se. We’ve never had to hide in shelters.”
Yuliia explains that while Ukraine still has internet access, her family is on the move trying to stay safe. As a result, she is unable to be updated on their wellbeing as often as she’d like to be.
“Knowing that they are on their way somewhere and not hearing back has been really challenging,” she said.
Yuliia is a double major at Nebraska Wesleyan studying communications and data science. She admits that she’s had trouble sleeping since Russia invaded her home country, but she is determined to accomplish her goal of getting a college degree at Nebraska Wesleyan to honor her family back home.
“Knowing that my success, my wellbeing brings comfort to them, that’s what motivates me to continue my normal routine as much as possible,” she said.
A junior at NWU, Yuliia hopes to work as a data scientist after she graduates in 2023. She’s already held two internships during her time in school.
She says she hasn’t seen her family since coming to Nebraska as a high school foreign exchange student several years ago, but she is hopeful her mother will be able to visit for her graduation next year.
