Lewis and Clark High School: For former refugee Fatima Mahdawi, Spokane opens doors to future medical career

Lewis and Clark High School senior Fatima Mahdawi, who was born and raised in Afghanistan, had a very chilly reception from Spokane when she moved here, but that was only because she arrived in December.

With a big winter coat, plus a lot of excitement for this new chapter of her life, Mahdawi wasn’t too phased by the cold.

Mahdawi and her family spent three months in a camp for refugees before she and her older sister moved to Spokane in December 2021. Their parents arrived two years later.

“When we came here, we were really excited,” she said. “For the first few weeks, we were learning new things here. Some of them were really exciting, but it’s also challenging, because it was really new.”

Mahdawi remembers seeing teenagers walking to and from school as she settled into Spokane and got more excited each day thinking about when she would be able to join them.

When she finally started at Lewis and Clark, Mahdawi was a little overwhelmed by the crowds and the bell ringing. She also had to learn how to work with computers and took classes to improve her English.

The Multi-Language Learner classes required Mahdawi to learn a lot of vocabulary words and their definitions, read books and, eventually, write essays in English. Students also worked on introducing themselves and holding conversations in English.

Mahdawi also got the opportunity to share Afghan culture and her native language Dari via the school’s Multicultural Club.

“We did what you like about your country, or what you want people to know about your culture,” she said. “Students that are in the same country, they made presentations about their food, cultures, clothes and everything.”

Along with sharing her culture, Mahdawi has also spent her time at Lewis and Clark taking health and science classes, something she’s been interested in since early childhood, when she listened to a teacher speak about chemistry.

The teacher mentioned that doctors and nurses can cure people, something that amazed Mahdawi and inspired her to pursue a career in medicine.

“I thought, being a nurse and helping a person … would be really good,” she said. “Then my country, there’s not a lot of doctors or nurses to help children and women, so that’s why I thought that my country needed me, so that’s why I was like ‘Yes, this is perfect.’ “

Mahdawi, who also likes to hike, go to the gym and read, has been accepted into Gonzaga University’s nursing program. She’s excited to gain a bit of independence and start being more responsible for her life and career.

Counselor Emily Magnuson works with the Multi-Language Learners and has known Mahdawi since she was a freshman. Magnuson said Mahdawi is really self-sufficient and calls her a role model student.

“I’m really fortunate because I feel like the students that I get to work with have a lot of grit from so many experiences, adversity that a lot of American students might see as a showstopper,” Magnuson said. “I find my students are like, ‘OK, well, let’s get around it.’ They’re very hard working, discerning, their perseverance is really strong.”

Mahdawi remembers her early days at Lewis and Clark, but she advises students who are shy or worried about their English skills not to be afraid of speaking to students and staff, even just for five minutes while going from class to class.

“I know it’s really hard to get involved, especially when you’re in a class that’s all American students, but when you talk to them, it’s really nice,” she said. “You feel like you get something out of your body and your heart and your mind.”