PARMA – Since moving to Parma from Jordan eight years ago, the Salameh sisters have done everything together from working at their mother’s restaurant to helping each other learn English. So, it seemed natural when the sisters, who are 20, 22, and 23 years old, decided they wanted to graduate from Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C®) together.
“We’ve been doing everything together since we arrived in the United States,” said Huda Salameh, who first proposed the idea. “I thought ‘Why don’t all three of us graduate together?’”
It took some strategic planning and required the sisters to take 18 credit hours some semesters, but Nour, Huda and Alaa Salameh all received their diplomas during Tri-C’s 43rd annual commencement ceremony at Cleveland State University’s Wolstein Center on May 21. “It felt so good. My mom was really proud of us,” said Alaa, the youngest. “It’s funny how everything worked out and we now all have our associate degrees.”
Nour, the oldest of the three, graduated from high school in 2004, but worked for a year before enrolling in classes at Tri-C’s Western Campus. Huda finished high school the following year and the two began taking classes together at the College. When Alaa enrolled in Tri-C, she was two semesters behind her sisters, who had spent much of their first year taking English as second language classes. The sisters took a math and English class together before Nour transferred to the Metropolitan Campus for its optical technology program.
Alaa and Huda took several business classes together at the Western Campus until Huda changed her major to graphic design. She completed the program in one year, allowing the sisters to stay on their graduation track. The Salameh’s are pursuing bachelor’s degrees, but are all attending different four-year institutions. Although they’re excited about their futures, they admitted to being a little nervous about embarking on their journeys without one another.
“Everything we have done, we’ve done it together,” Huda said. “It’s going to be really difficult.”
Nour is attending Cleveland State University in the spring to finish her bachelor’s degree in health and science while Huda will begin graphic design classes at the University of Akron this fall. Alaa is planning to complete her international business degree at Baldwin-Wallace College. They will continue to live with their mother in Parma while they attend school and will assist her at the family restaurant, Sahara, 12501 Lorain Avenue in Cleveland.