From Refugee to Speaker: Parsa's Journey

0:00It's April 29th, I'm Cory with the story, this is Durham News Today, driven by AI. This Sunday at Durham Technical Community College, 33-year-old Parsas Dari Spondybody steps up as the commencement speaker, a huge moment. For this Iranian refugee, born into the Baha'i faith, he fled Iran at just 16, urged by his parents to chase education, leaving them behind in a tough spot. After nearly three years in Turkey, he landed in North Carolina at 19 with his aunt and uncle in Chapel Hill. No English, no job at first, but he grinded it through books, movies, and online lessons to teach himself the language, then juggled school at Durham. Tech with multiple gigs. He's built a Thai crew here that's like family, reunited with a sibling in the state, though his parents are still in Iran amid the conflict he got. Enter from them right after tension spiked, which had him on edge. What hits home is he missed his own graduation ceremonies at Durham Tech, back in 2017,

1:02and at North Carolina State for Physics. Now chasing a PhD in Biology and Developmental Mechanics at Duke, set to wrap next spring, Parsas sees this speaking gig as payback for those missed, milestones, celebrating others while owning his roots and pushing grass to own theirs too. These stories are straight up blueprint for turning perseverance into progress.