Sioux City – Suud remembers the very first time when he came to the US in January 2017, to visit Morningside and some other Colleges. When he landed in Minnesota his friend, who goes to Morningside, was supposed to pick him up but none of them knew that it will take an entire 5 hours until he was finally able to leave the airport. “As soon as they saw on my passport that I was born in Baghdad, Iraq, I realized that they might pull me out”, Suud remembers. He was asked to wait in a room full of other foreign looking people. After he waited there for almost an hour, he was taken into an interrogation room by an officer. Suud said, “He asked me about my origin and what I’m doing here in the US. He also wanted exact names and phone numbers of the people I was staying with”. After many more hours, he was finally let go and that is how his life in the US started.

A couple of years later, Suud is now a senior at MC and plans on graduating in the spring of 2020. He will be able to finish his math degree in only 3.5 years at Morningside. Prior to Mside Suud went to a university in his hometown, Stuttgart, Germany.

“Basketball.”, was the one and only answer Suud had when I asked him why he chose to study in the US. Suud who started playing basketball at the age of 10 also had a simple reason why he chose to play basketball in his youth, “I basically sucked at soccer, which most of my friends played”, Suud said with a smirk on his face. 

His athletic career did not go like he wished at Morningside. The ability level and the athleticism of the players is much better than what he was used to in Germany, Suud admitted. Never really getting a chance at varsity over his first 3 seasons led to him quitting basketball and fully focusing on his final 2 semesters at Mside.

“The friendships you build and connections you make are so special and you won’t find this feeling of such a familiar environment anywhere else”, Suud answered about what he enjoyed the most at Morningside. He also added, “Being so close to all the profs, definitely helps…”.

The time in the united states was full of ups and downs for Usa Suud but regardless of that he still wants to continue his academics here and not go back to Germany. Suud said, “I have some universities in mind for grad school and hopefully I find a good fit for me… some place warmer than Morningside would be great.”, and started laughing. 

Suud is an exceptional student at Morningside and in the math department. He is the only math student who was picked to give tutoring lessons in the library and also had important internships that will play an important role in getting accepted to a prestigious grad school.

Except for his passion for basketball, he also enjoys travelling with his girlfriend and his friends. “The states are just such a good place to travel, because you’ve got everything here. Mountains, the sea and great landscapes”, Suud said. His last trip to Denver, CO was definitely a tough one, because his car engine broke halfway through the trip and he forgot his wallet. “He was so grumpy throughout the weekend, not even the NBA game we watched cheered him up.”, Suud’s girlfriend, Alyssa mentioned. Suud himself just smiled and looked away when she said that.

Regarding all the ups and downs he went through during his time in the US, he definitely made his experience a special one.


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