By Whitney Stoffel
What do you envision when you hear the term “new college student”?
Ten years ago, you may have defaulted to a scene of a herd of 18-year-old high school graduates, loaded down with baggage and shower caddies headed for the dorms. While that still applies today, the faces and circumstances for what a “new college student” might look like have expanded and grown exponentially, with countless possibilities available for almost anyone who wants to further their education — and Ross is here for every single one of them.
Circling back to the original question regarding what you picture when you think of a new college student, I’d like to paint you just one possible image by introducing to one of Ross’ very own.
Meet Suhir Alejeli — one exceptional Ross student.
Suhir (pronounced soo-HAIR) is currently attending the evening Dental Assistant program at the Ross Medical Education Center in Fort Wayne, Ind. To date, Suhir has completed a little over a third of her program and is scheduled to graduate in July of 2022. We had an opportunity to sit down and chat with her to try to gain some insight as to what brought her to the dental field, what brought her to Ross, and what her secrets are to doing such a phenomenal job in her program thus far.
When asked, Suhir’s reasons for choosing Ross seemed fairly practical. She decided on Ross due to the flexible schedule options offered, and the fact that Ross’ tuition and her individual payments options worked well for the family budget. She very much values the online learning management system and technology integration that she experiences throughout her program. She feels that being able to use modern medical office software and effectively navigating the electronic medical records is a key factor to being successful in the modern medical field.
Suhir also feels a great kinship in her classroom. Surrounded by other students who also have daily obligations such as jobs, children, and other responsibilities, she is comforted and inspired in knowing that she is not the only student in the classroom who is performing a juggling act in order to get her education and achieve her goals.
The students are not the only presence in the building that Suhir cited as being rallied in her corner. The Fort Wayne staff and faculty have shown their support, as well.
“The staff are really nice,” Suhir said, “They have been patient and responsive to me in the learning process.”
Our next few questions to Suhir and the answers she provided are what led us to believe that her story would not only be relevant to share, but inspirational and beneficial to share. We have had the opportunity to observe Suhir in the classroom on more than one occasion. We noticed that she is very comfortable with the instruments in the clinic room and engages in classroom discussion with insightful and knowledge-based responses. We recited our observations to her during our interview and followed it up with the one question we always want to ask when talking to students — “Why did you choose this field?” After bashfully lowering her eyes and grinning while trying to avoid an answer, Suhir continued talking with me and explained the exceptional part of her story…
Suhir and her husband fled from their home country of Libya several years ago when the Second Libyan Civil War erupted. Luckily, Suhir’s husband had an impressive education and an employer that allowed them to move to the United States and find a peaceful setting in which to start over.
Suhir’s husband was not the only one who had an impressive education. She revealed to me that she had completed a Dentistry program in Libya and earned a Doctorate of Dental Surgery. She unfortunately did not have the opportunity to go into practice before they had to flee the country.
When they arrived in the United States, work and making a plan to move forward became her first priority. After prepping and planning for a few years while her husband immediately began schooling for his second Masters degree, she finally decided that Ross’ dental program would be her new start.
Though her conversational English is quite impressive, she noted that she still struggles with reading comprehension and writing in English, as it is after all, her second language. Because of this, she feels it takes her a little longer than most of her classmates to complete assignments and read the required material, but she doesn’t mind nor does it stop her from completing work on time and earning good grades.
As if that set of circumstances alone would not be enough for any one person to overcome…Suhir is also the proud mother of five children, aged from nine years to ten months. Talk about having your hands full! Suhir takes care of the children and home during the day, squeezing in homework and studying while her husband is at work, all so that they can high five each other at the doorway and trade places in order for her to attend classes at night.
Suhir is a living and breathing example of perseverance and dedication – to her schooling, to her family, and to the future of the quality of care that we am sure countless individuals will receive by her hands. Hats off to you, Suhir Alejeli…your Ross family is proud of you!
Ross Student Suhir Alejeli 
Suhir’s Family 
Suhir’s Family 
Suhir’s Family