Natella Dzhelali
My name is Natella Dzhelali. I am a new immigrant in the U.S., and arrived here in April 2022. I left Ukraine because of the war. I had no plans to leave my country, but Russia destroyed the lives of 48 million Ukrainians, and my family’s life as well. I was born in Mariupol city, which is on the Azov sea. This is where I spent my childhood, graduated high school, made my first friends ( I’m still in touch with them today), and became a student in Donetsk Medical University. When I got the Diploma of Doctor of Dentistry, I went back home and worked for more than 20 years in Mariupol. Dentistry is the center of my life. I was happy, because my job was my hobby. My close friends were my colleagues. On February 24th I lost it all: my Motherland, my home, my job that I loved, my friends, and my happy and worry-free life. Now Mariupol is famous in the world as the first city in Ukraine that was almost fully destroyed by the Russians ( 95% of it is in ruins), and where every fourth person of its population died( it is near 100.000 people), and also by fearless defenders of Mariupol- the heroic regiment “Azov”, that had to surrender, unfortunately. The documentary film “20 days in Mariupol” about these events won the Oscar in 2024. I am a very lucky person, because all members of my small family are alive, not physically injured, and finally here in Minnesota.
Like I said before, I adore my job, and I would like to go back to my profession. I studied a lot of information and understood that I can not be a dentist here (the time it would take is rather prohibitive), and made a decision to become a dental hygienist. Anyway, I am 53 y.o., and I am a student in Normandale - the best college in Minnesota. My children (daughter Katheryna 29 y.o and son-in-law Yevhen 31y.o) support me and we celebrate each small victory on my way together.
In spring semester I had a class “Psychology of Death and Dying” with a fantastic professor and person Jay Anderson. This class helped me understand myself better, to survive prolonged grief and post-traumatic syndrome, because each assignment was a small psychotherapy session for me. Now I look at the topics of life and death from a different angle, my life priorities have changed a little. Some things I was afraid of don’t seem terrible now. I perceive every new day in my life as a priceless gift, and I am infinitely grateful to fate for the chance to start all over again.
All info expressed here represent the student’s personal story and perspective.