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When Parsa Zareiesfandabadi was 16, his parents urged him to leave his native country of Iran because, as a member of the Baháʼí faith, he would be barred from attending higher education institutions there.
He and his cousin, who was also 16 at the time (they were born just five days apart), headed to Turkey, where Zareiesfandabadi went to the U.N. Embassy to begin the process for finding a country that would take him as a refugee. After nearly three years, at age 19, he arrived in the United States, after an uncle living in Chapel Hill said he would sponsor his nephew. Zareiesfandabadi’s parents were able to visit him in Turkey before he left for the United States, but he has not seen them now in more than a decade.
Zareiesfandabadi, who will deliver Durham Tech's keynote Commencement address May 3 at the DPAC, did not know anything about Chapel Hill or the Triangle area, but he knew he wanted to pursue his education.
His uncle and aunt attended Durham Tech as a starting point when they arrived in the United States. His immigration officer also spoke highly of the College. Zareiesfandabadi and the cousin with whom he had immigrated decided to enroll and found a sense of community at Durham Tech.
“To me, Durham Tech seemed like a home for refugees,” Zareiesfandabadi said. “When I came to Durham Tech, that was very obvious – the population, the people.”
The Durham Tech legacy for Zareiesfandabadi’s family continued after he graduated from Durham Tech. His younger sibling — his only sibling — also graduated from the College and went on to attend UNC Chapel Hill.
When Zareiesfandabadi entered Durham Tech, he found liberal arts courses were extremely difficult because he was still learning English. Zareiesfandabadi found himself gravitating toward science and math classes, where he flourished.
Among those at Durham Tech who had an impact on him was Chris Mansfield, dean of Science and Math at Durham Tech.
"Watching Parsa blossom as he progressed through the math curriculum from Developmental Math through Calculus 3 and Differential Equations, gaining confidence and motivation as he went, was the sort of gratifying experience that keeps me motivated to this day,” Mansfield said. “The whole math department — he took a class from each of us at some point — marveled at his progress. He truly left Durham Tech a different person, academically and personally, than he was when he arrived.”
After graduating from Durham Tech in 2017, Zareiesfandabadi built on the educational foundation the College had given him and went to N.C. State where he studied physics and did work and research in a biophysics lab. Currently, he is pursuing his doctorate degree in biology, with a specialty in developmental mechanics, at Duke University and is slated to graduate next spring. He hopes to become a professor after earning his doctorate.
“It’s really rewarding for me when I learn something and I have the opportunity to transmit that knowledge to someone else who might find it useful,” he said. “It feels great to acquire new knowledge — it gives me a high when I learn something new. I want to make others feel just as good by teaching them the thing I just learned.”
Zareiesfandabadi said being asked to be Durham Tech’s Commencement speaker felt like things had come full circle for him.
“It was unbelievable,” he said. “I felt seen in my community that I’ve been a part of and that I’ve been trying to improve through outreach and education. I felt I’ve been empowered to make an even stronger impact in my community moving forward. Building a stronger community is the most important part to me. I didn’t speak English and now I’m giving Durham Tech’s Commencement address.”
Zareiesfandabadi said his advice is to “take a second and appreciate where you were and where you are now, the distance you have come.”