When Nana S. Ewusi-Emmim first moved to Ashburn from the west African nation of Ghana three and a half years ago, she couldn't have felt more alone.
With few friends, a dense accent and only a cautious grasp of English, Nana enrolled as a sophomore at Broad Run. She didn't get off to a good start.
"The students that I sat with were kind of mean," she remembered. They laughed at her accent. "It was kind of hard to feel I was part of a group."
Her sophomore year was a solitary one, except for two girls who pestered her in class. She sat alone at lunch.
Despite Broad Run's many international students — both its valedictorians are foreign-born — Nana felt stranded.
"I didn't see any Africans at all," she said.
There was one other African student that she knew of, and everyone kept asking her about him. "Everyone was asking, 'Are you related to him?' and I didn't know him," she said.
Then, as a junior, she met someone: Sydney Dublin, a classmate who wouldn't taunt her, but instead take her in. The two became best friends and Nana's life changed.
She got involved in clubs: Future Educators of America, International Club, Students Against Drunk Driving. She took difficult classes — four AP classes her senior year. She graduated last week with a GPA that put her in the top 10 percent of her class.
"When Sydney and I became friends, I felt I could do more things," Nana said.
BACK IN Ghana, a teacher once asked Nana what she wanted to do with her life.
Nana said she'd like to be a doctor. The teacher told her to be a musician.
Here in America, Nana is pursuing her dream. She will attend Virginia Commonwealth University this fall to study medicine.
Nana's mother was a nurse in Ghana, but can't find work as a nurse here. Nana remembers how her mother helped people, and she wants to do it too.
"I felt the need to be like her when I grow up," Nana said.
Nana is looking forward to college and the challenges it will bring.
"It's going to be a new place, learning a new culture, being diverse," she said. "I like that."
Assistant Principal Dr. Gwendolyn Good joined Broad Run three years ago, just like Nana. They first saw each other at orientation.
"We exchanged smiles and I figured here was someone even more apprehensive than me about adapting to a new school," Good remembered. "Over the three years I've known her and observed her in the halls, I have seen her grow in grace and poise. She is very respectful, fun, and determined."