It鈥檚 logical to ask this question to a UCF student on the verge of graduation: How do you plan to celebrate? Posing the question to Mia Willard, however, feels uncomfortable, even na茂ve. She candidly responds to questions very few people will ever have to answer, but 鈥�How do you plan to celebrate?鈥� catches her by surprise.
鈥淲hen I saw that question before our conversation, it was the first time I contemplated it,鈥� Willard says. She pauses for a moment, which is something she has rarely taken time to do since Russia began bombarding her Ukrainian homeland more than two years ago. 鈥淵ou could say my educational journey has not been a traditional one.鈥�
Willard isn鈥檛 referring to a transfer or to taking online classes for four years 鈥� she hasn鈥檛 thought much about those twists in her path toward a degree in international and global studies. She鈥檚 been trying to focus on classwork from some of the worst war-torn areas of Ukraine. The assignments, honestly, have been secondary to providing aid for people, narrowly surviving landmines and missiles, rescuing animals from the rooftops of homes underwater and recovering from the shock of finding the bodies of civilians in villages and small settlements.
Here comes another logical question: Why didn鈥檛 you leave Ukraine, especially since you have U.S. citizenship? She doesn鈥檛 need to think very hard about this one.
鈥淚 have a high stress resistance,鈥� Willard says. 鈥淚n some ways I feel more comfortable going into danger and fighting for what I believe in than trying to escape it.鈥�
Let鈥檚 back up for some much-needed context about this nontraditional educational journey. Midway through 11th grade in Ukraine, she moved to 甜瓜视频app to finish high school while living with an aunt she鈥檇 met only once.
鈥淚 knew that earning a diploma in the United States would provide the best runway into college and the career I envisioned,鈥� Willard says.
She saw herself one day facing the challenges of international affairs, legal matters, and politics. For her freshman year of college, she attended American University in Washington D.C., the epicenter of all the topics that excited her, before personal reasons pulled her back home to Ukraine 鈥� Kyiv, to be exact. There, she landed a job with a think tankand became involved in journalism and research.
鈥淎t that point it made sense to stay in Ukraine and pursue a college degree online,鈥� Willard says. 鈥淚 chose UCF because the university offered a broad online program that allowed me to continue working fulltime.鈥�
Threats from neighboring Russia had been hovering over Ukraine for centuries , first in attempts to abolish Ukrainian artists, thinkers, even the language. But Willard, like many people, did not think Russia would act on its 鈥渋mperialistic ambitions鈥� and start a full-scale war, even as its military built up an ominous presence along Ukraine鈥檚 eastern border. In fact, she remembers nothing out of the ordinary in and around her office on February 23, 2022. After work, however, she was told an invasion was imminent. It would happen at 4 a.m.
As night quietly ticked toward morning, Willard poured herself a glass of wine and stayed awake by updating her news feeds every 30 seconds.
鈥淣othing happened,鈥� she says, 鈥渟o sometime after four o鈥檆lock, I tried to go to sleep.鈥�
At 4:57 a.m., a friend from 甜瓜视频app texted to ask if everything was OK. Willard sensed that everything was not OK. Three minutes later, she heard the first bombs falling on Kyiv. Her 15th floor apartment shook. The explosions grew louder and more frequent.
鈥淓verything became a blur,鈥� Willard says. 鈥淟ike most people, I鈥檝e read historic materials about wars and watched documentaries. But I never imagined waking up to a war outside my windows.鈥�
And yet she did not panic or flee on the morning of Feb. 24, 2022. Her first move was to try helping a friend who ran a morning news show, but she found out the bridges near her home were closed. Next, she contacted Ukraine鈥檚 Territorial Defense Force to sign up for duty and help protect Kyiv.
鈥淭hey already had such an influx of volunteers that I was dismissed in about three seconds.鈥�
At some moment during the most surreal, incomprehensible day of her life, Willard sent an email to her UCF professors with the following request: 鈥淐an I please have an extension on my assignments because of the full-scale war here?鈥� Then Willard went out to find water and to offer help to anyone who needed it. For the next week, whenever evening came, she sheltered in a basement with her sister and their mother.
鈥淟eaving was not a choice we wanted to make,鈥� she says. 鈥淢y mother has no relatives or sponsors to take her in. She would not want to be a wandering refugee. But I鈥檇 also be lying if I said I wasn鈥檛 scared about Chechen forces closing in on Kyiv 鈥� they鈥檙e known for brutality and rapes.鈥�
A friend from the U.S. would check on Willard every day.
鈥淗is check-ins kept me sane,鈥� she says.
The blur that began the morning of Feb. 24, 2022, has never fully subsided for Ukrainians. In her work and volunteerism, Willard has seen things that cannot be described here, all from a war she and her countrymen did not choose. The power outages that have altered her sleep patterns and interrupted online classwork are inconsequential in the bigger picture that she wakes up to every day.
鈥淥ur world has been altered,鈥� Willard says, 鈥渂ut it does not stop.鈥�
As she finishes her degree from UCF while working full time, Willard is also weighing an offer to work at the U.S. embassy in Kyiv. This leads to another question often asked of new college graduates: 鈥淗ave your experiences uniquely prepared you for your career?鈥�
鈥淕oing through any type of conflict would give applicants a benefit, that鈥檚 the pragmatic answer,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut the real answer is, I have no idea. I鈥檓 still wondering when and where the next mortar might land when I鈥檓 by the frontlines with aid.鈥�
After answering these questions during a phone call at 11 p.m. in Kyiv, she will complete her last final exam for the class Emerging Space Powers.
鈥淚n the midst of my life, I haven鈥檛 stopped to think of this as a major culmination. And honestly, I do not consider my story to be brave or heroic. It takes away from the actual heroes: Our military, energy workers and emergency personnel. I鈥檓 just doing my best, like everyone else.鈥�
Asked once more, perhaps encouraged this time, about celebrating graduation, Willard lets out a deep breath and a gentle laugh, and says, 鈥淢aybe I鈥檒l sip the glass of red wine that I never had a chance to finish.鈥�
