Saad

Saad was born in Syria in 2000. In 2016, he immigrated to Memphis with his father and two brothers because of political unrest in his country. His mother stayed behind to care for his grandparents and has been unable to rejoin the family since Executive Order 13780 suspended the entry of Syrian immigrants in March 2017.
In Syria, his father was a successful business owner, but he is working as a gas station attendant for his cousin here. Saad currently is working at the gas station while taking classes at Southwest to improve his English. He is most interested in learning the English that is necessary to work in the health care field, but Southwest offers only general English as a Second Language (ESL) classes. He has two school-aged siblings who are also enrolled in the ESL program in the local elementary school. Saad’s goal is to learn enough English to enroll in a nursing program and become a nurse as soon as possible. His ability to speak Arabic will be a asset because of the growing population of Arabic-speaking immigrants and refugees in Memphis. Saad is motivated to learn English, but sometimes it is difficult for him to attend a face-to-face class—this spring he had to miss several classes when his siblings were sick and his father had to work late.

• • Educational background

  • Nationality

  • English proficiency level

  • Career goals

  • Reasons for learning English

  • Reason for moving to Memphis