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UC Irvine is part of the American Talent Initiative, a coalition of Universities dedicated to highlighting the feats of diverse, impressive students who succeed in spite of their circumstances. UCI is home to many such students, students not unlike Danny Attiyah.
Danny studies physics at UCI, but there’s more to him than that. He is also a Syrian American. He was born in the U.S., but his parents and the rest of the family were all born and raised in Syria. The Syrian Civil War has caused all of them much heartache.
“The start of the war was the hardest on us,” he said. “We would receive news of a dead friend or family member every week. My mother was constantly in tears. My dad’s parents in Syria both passed away within the past year. Their house was demolished and everything that my parents once recognized as home is rubble.”
Faced with continuing devastation of familial loss, Danny grew tired of grieving. He decided that his energy would be better spent otherwise and chose instead to #ActivateTalent.
“Breaking down and feeling hopeless over the trauma wasn’t going to help anyone,” he said. “I concluded that the best way to help was to do well for myself in honor of those who were killed in the war.”
True to his word, Danny is doing exactly that. Like many diverse students at UCI, Danny—despite his struggles—has found and continues to find success in his academic endeavors.
On top of pursuing his studies, Danny is a member of the Society of Arab Students (SAS), which “focuses on bringing together students of Middle Eastern descent to establish a stronger community on campus,” according to Danny.
He is also a scholar in UCI’s Leadership Excellence through Advanced Degrees program (UC LEADS). The program offers “educationally or economically disadvantaged” sophomores (and juniors planning on staying for their fifth year) the opportunity to work on research projects that will prepare them for graduate school.
“Take all the opportunities that life throws at you,” offers Danny. “Some of the smartest people I know have come from households where they had very little. I know a professor here at UCI who lived on a protected reservation when he was a child. He didn’t have any electricity at all. He now has a PhD in Physics. Living in tough conditions can create a motivation that can’t be found anywhere else.”
Struggles often come to define those who endure them. In Danny’s case, his struggles instilled in him a burning drive to succeed, not purely for the sake of personal success, but so he can show the world that Syrians are not threats or problems for others to solve, “to prove to people that Syrians are not just terrorists or refugees that need to be taken care of.”
“I will be successful one day,” he said. “And I will support any effort to help those in need in Syria. I will dedicate my success to all those who were lost in the war because they didn’t get a chance to live their lives.”