The Power of Persistence

Hi, my name is Maria Eldeeb. I was born in Egypt and worked on a farm until third grade. Then we came—I came with my family to the USA, and I worked. I continued working and also going to school since we had to, but working full time didn’t allow for school. I was mostly sleeping, and I wasn't doing well at all. That continued the same exact way till 8th grade.

My family was also in the middle of going back and forth between Egypt and here, and nobody had decided exactly what we were doing. But then, when high school started, two weeks in, my house burned down, and I was like, "That's it for school." You know, there's no way it's gonna work out anymore. But after a year and a half of being homeless and in a shelter, my family was able to move into somewhere stable, and life was getting a little stable. So I was willing to give high school another shot and see, you know, if I could really make it work out for me.

Thank God I found Khan Academy, and they had everything that I needed because I needed pre-pre algebra to actually start my way and be able to learn at an equal level. They had it all for me, you know? They had pre-algebra, and then they had algebra, and they had the whole path just set up right there for me where I didn't even have to organize it or find someone to help me organize or figure out what I would do.

I went down through every video, and as I learned, things were getting easier. The pace was what I wanted, and it motivated me a lot. I felt like I could actually learn, and I was learning and getting happier. Things were working out, you know? I continued that same way, and that even drove a love for math for me. After finishing every video that was there, I finished high school in that year and a half. I graduated in 11th grade.

After finishing 11th grade, I went to Queens College, and I knew I could learn math, so I continued learning math. Khan Academy was still there for me; they had calculus, and they continued with statistics and probability, and every class that I needed to continue to do well in math. I was able to finish my applied math degree in two and a half years, and now I'm doing my second bachelor's here at Columbia University after transferring here.