The teachers at Bishop Maginn High School say that Ni Lin Mar, a refugee from Myanmar, is one of the hardest working students in the school.

Her life was very hard, she grew up in a United Nations refugee camp in Thailand.

Ni Lar is shown  with Amelia O’Rourke, an administrator at Bishop Maginn and  Naw Eh Kru, a refugee and friend of the family.

Ni Lar has earned a full scholarship to Sage College in Albany, and will start school there in September. She says she wants to be a nurse so that she can help others, and she has seen firsthand what it means to be helped.

Bishop Maginn took this gifted young student into their school took and made sure she was secure stayed for four years, they don’t throw students out over money.

The story below was her speech to the graduation. She is grateful to the school for a second chance to live her life in this land of freedom.

Her parents are here in America, but could not come to the graduation. They were caring for Ni Lars younger sister, who has heart disease. Naw Eh Kru came to stand with her. Ni Lar’s mother hand wove a native Karen dress for her to wear to the graduation.

Ni Lars wanted to honor her father with her speech.

“There was once a colony of squirrels living together in a forest. Among them, was a tiny weak squirrel, who was always picked on by the stronger and more skilled squirrels. One day, one of the strong squirrels found a tiny hole in a cave with the most beautiful acorn.

He tried to get the acorn out of the hole, but no matter what he tried, the acorn would not move. So he gave up. He told his friends and each squirrel tried but the acorn stayed put. So they all gave up.

The weak squirrel saw them struggling and thought he would give it a go. At first, he tried to bite the stone but it was too hard, then tried to go into the hole but it was too small, and he tried to reach for the acorn, but it was lying too deep in the hole.

Despite his many failed attempts, he decided to persist. Each day he revisited the hole and tried something new. One day he had an idea. He took some water in his mouth and spit it into the hole. He continued to do this and eventually, the acorn floated to the top.

He ate the acorn and became a stronger and braver squirrel. Instead of being egotistical and making fun of the others who were unsuccessful in retrieving the acorn, he decided to share his idea and help the other squirrels to grow stronger.

The colony was inspired by his actions and never doubted the weakest squirrel again. This is the story my dad used to tell me when I was a little girl.”

Photo by Sue Silverstein.