“I had to learn about endurance early on in life. I was born in Ukraine at a turbulent time in the history of Eastern Europe. Before I had time to say my first word, I was already half way around the world in New York – escaping the corruption of the former Soviet Union.”
So began my interview in Astoria with Irina Moin, a particularly driven young woman. She has just finishing her undergraduate studies and wants to go to law school.
In fact, she specifically wants to be a voice for her Ukrainian-American community. I have rarely felt in the presence of such determination from someone so young. Society needs her to succeed.
Irina Moin (top) prepares with her team during finals week at Baruch College.
I recently wrote about Cambodian-American Ambassador to the U.N., Sichan Siv, who survived the Killing Fields, made it to America and after driving taxis won a scholarship to Columbia (HuffPo). “Making It In America” is becoming thematic for my column of thought leaders and global citizens.
I interviewed Irina at my favorite Greek restaurant in Astoria, Opa! She told me her life story, growing up in the melting pot of New York City:
Growing up as the only child of parents from different social and psychological backgrounds I had to endure conflict throughout my life.
Both my parents worked long hours and my father even went to college, all to provide me with the best of their abilities. With no present role models, I took the task of child-rearing upon myself.
As a child I was observant and always interested in how relationships are built and the interactions between people, mainly because I had nobody to build a relationship with.
Watching neighborly exchanges, intimate relationships between spouses, and everything in between came together to form the recipe of my personality.
She continued told to explain her life to me:
From a very early age, I was exposed to many of the ills of society. Growing up in Flushing, Queens in the early 1990’s, I came across people of all social and ethnic backgrounds.
I was left to my own merits and quickly adapted to all situations in a neighborhood filled with violence where we were robbed many times.
It was especially difficult for my parents, who were trying to assimilate to a new country without knowing a word of English.
As we couldn’t afford to have both parents in school, I singlehandedly taught my mother the English language through the lessons I learned in school every day.
These lessons were often given while sitting in the local public assistance office for what seemed like endless hours.
Irina was growing up in New York City. She continued her fascinating tale:
Years passed and our financial situation changed, but this did not affect my capacity to endure and persevere. With new surroundings come new situations to endure as well as new people to deal with.
I began high school in a specialized program for humanities. I excelled in my studies of English and History while maintaining a strong foundation in Math, thanks to my Eastern European upbringing of strict discipline.
I was also involved in many organizations and clubs such as the conflict resolution team in my high school. I applied much of the tact and patience I learned early in life to excel and really help my peers with different problems such as mediating a conflict before it erupted in violence.
While in school I worked at a Medical Billing agency where I learned the ins and outs of the United States healthcare system.
It became clear to me that a career in Law would be the only one where I would feel most natural as I began to constantly fight for justice in a country where it holds such a high value.
Lending a helping hand, Irina brings her study team together for finals.
Upon graduating High School, I chose to attend Baruch College in New York City. The strong discipline instilled in me along with my knack for numbers led me to begin my concentration in Finance.
Throughout college my interest in finance vanished, this was in part because of my work with the Euro-American Women’s Council.
My work with women’s organizations helped foster the belief that I want to play an active role in society rather than punch numbers and calculate risks and rewards.
I believe that my ability for intellectual problems solving and being able to interpret complex situations with patience and reason are fundamental skills I will use in my future career in Law.
Irina (left) working very late in a study room in the library we were
studying for advanced corporate Finance and Technical Analysis...
After hearing Irina speak so passionately for more than an hour, I began to think law school would be the perfect path for her. Given her personable nature and ability to adapt to all situations, her will and determination, her ability to endure and persevere, I think she could become a compassionate advocate for the disadvantaged in her community.
From an early age, she says, she has been fascinated by our country’s legal system and government. In the short history of America, our legal traditions have evolved much more than most other countries which have been around for one thousand years, she noted.
Although my parents were not able to always be there it was through their will to survive and endure that made me into the person I am today.
I was raised on tough love; this has made me grow a very thick skin. At the same time I am very compassionate and sensitive.
In society I feel that those who can truly make a difference are those who have emotional intelligence.
My ability to reason intellectually based on fact rather than an appeal to pity puts me in the position of seeing things more clearly.
This would be fundamental in my practice of Law. I make practical decisions quickly and assess situations logically and thoroughly.
My knowledge of the law stems from basic everyday observations and literature.
I have and will continue to live by the famous quote from Ovid, “Dripping water hollows out stone, not through force but through persistence.”
I asked Irina why she wanted to limit herself to serving the Ukrainian-American community.
There have been many instances where my parents were taken advantage of in business and even on the streets. They had no defense since they did not have an American education.
It truly hurt me to see this and I knew that the only way to keep this cycle from continuing is through education.
My goal was to be educated in all aspects so I am prepared in all situations as well as help those who unfortunately, cannot help themselves.
To read related stories by Jim Luce, see:
The Euro-American Women's Council's Loula Loi Alafoyiannis (Daily Kos)
Greek-American Volunteer Vicky Tzolis Helps Both Women’s Empowerment and the Mentally Ill (Daily Kos)
If It Is Astoria, It Must Be Opa! Forty Years of Greek Cuisine (Huffington Post)