A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Time now for StoryCorps. Afaf Saleh is the daughter of Somali immigrants. More than a decade ago, she was in nursing school and supported her seven siblings and her ailing mother. She spoke with her college mentor, Suzanne Burke Lehman, about a moment when she almost gave up.
AFAF SALEH: I was working full-time. I was a stand-in mother. I was the person to figure stuff out for the family. At some point, I was like, oh, my God, how am I going to pay for the bills? And how am I going to renew paperwork that's needed for healthcare? And then I did not pass a certain class and found out that I was going to be let go from the nursing school. The first thing I did was pray. And then, right after I prayed, I put in my appeal to try to get back to school, telling my professors all I had to carry as a 22-year-old. And I wrote my heart out on that appeal. And then you called me.
SUZANNE BURKE LEHMAN: Yeah.
SALEH: You were like, what the heck, Afaf? How come you didn't tell me what was happening, you know? And then I remember, in your office, you said you saw yourself in me. That reflection, you know, holding a mirror up to me, I really needed that at that moment.
LEHMAN: You know, I'd walked in your shoes. And I, too, was very responsible for lots of things in my life and the people around me at a really young age. And I was silent, too. I didn't think that I should ask for help. But one of the things about teaching that was a revelation for me was how close help was.
SALEH: I just thought I was another student amongst a hundred, and I didn't matter. Growing up, I had to handle most of the things in life on my own. I didn't have someone to just say, I care. And I really do believe that God purposefully put you in my life at that moment to help me get through it.
LEHMAN: Well, I was hoping that you could do it. And you did.
(LAUGHTER)
SALEH: Yeah. I graduated at the top of my class, which is shocking to me.
LEHMAN: You know, it's not about a person who goes through school without any challenges and has a 4.0. We need nurses that are compassionate. And you are just incredibly compassionate and kind. And that's what I saw in you. And now it's like this never-ending gift that just keeps giving, so I get to watch it all unfold.
SALEH: Thank you. That means a lot to me.
(SOUNDBITE OF BLUE DOT SESSIONS' "SAGE THE HUNTER")
MARTÍNEZ: Suzanne Burke Lehman and Afaf Saleh for StoryCorps in Minneapolis. Today, Burke Lehman is dean of St. Catherine University's School of Nursing. Saleh is a public health nurse. Their interview is archived at the Library of Congress.
(SOUNDBITE OF BLUE DOT SESSIONS' "SAGE THE HUNTER") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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