It was only a short while ago Fatima Jalali-Tehrani was waking up at 3 a.m. to study for a few hours before her children woke up.
She’d get them ready for the day, ship them off to daycare and school, and then head out to one of her three ESL teaching jobs.
It wasn’t unusual, either, for the single mom to volunteer a few hours here and there, teaching English to Syrian refugees (she’s bilingual in English and Farsi). After all, she’s not new to the teaching field. Her ESL career had taken her to Iran, China and the United Arab Emirates.
Jalali-Tehrani would pick up her kids at the end of the day, and the whole routine would start again.
Just a few weeks earlier, in early 2016, the mother of two had arrived from Dubai as an American citizen (her mom is American and her dad is Iranian) to start her second semester of her master of education at Simon Fraser University.
Jalali-Tehrani was supposed to join her cohort in September 2015, but due to visa difficulties, the family couldn’t come to Canada until the following January.
Fortunately for her, her master’s supervisor, Gillian Judson, let her complete her first semester online.
Fast forward to Oct. 6, 2017 and Jalali-Tehrani was all smiles as she walked across SFU’s convocation stage to collect her degree.
“Because of my children and because the passion I had toward my studies and my job, it was kind of inspiring,” she said of her hectic schedule over the last two years. “It was a very packed day, but also very rewarding because I did enjoy every role that I had. I did enjoy my role as a mom, I did enjoy my role as a teacher, and also I very much enjoyed my role as a student at SFU.”
Despite her busy schedule, Jalali-Tehrani scored a cumulative 3.94 grade point average (out of a possible 4.33), and had an “exceptional” presentation on her master’s portfolio, said Judson.
“She just sort of said, ‘What can I do next?’ without admitting to herself that it wasn’t going to happen for her. She didn’t give up on the dream,” the lecturer told the NOW. “I’m just so inspired by the teachers I work with. I mean, today (Oct. 6), we are having a convocation, and a whole set of passionate, intelligent teachers are out there, and Fatima is one of those people that just embodies determination and perseverance and positivity.”
There’s no stopping Jalali-Tehrani, who has already begun her PhD in education at SFU’s Burnaby campus.
She hopes to develop an ESL curriculum that can help immigrants find a new identity they’re happy with. After working with Syrian refugees, especially women, Jalali-Tehrani noticed they were having a hard time adjusting to their new lives in Canada. And having lived in Iran most of her life, she said she understands how difficult it can be to bridge the gap between one’s own culture and the new.
“Once you move to a new environment, if you’re not directly in the job market, I noticed women think of, ‘So who am I? What am I doing here?’ And all the identity issues,” she said. “I felt the master’s program was great. It was a big step forward, but it was a step that just opened up the way for me. I’m ready to continue that.”
