Honored for their persistence

Every so often, Sarah Muradian hears a firsthand report on the current situation in Iraq ? not through radio, television or newspapers, but from her extended family members who live in the country. The images she gets are bleak ones from a nation struggling to rebuild itself: long gas lines, electricity shortages, lack of running water.

“Most of the time their phone isn’t working, but I know the situation for them isn’t very bright,” Sarah, 18, said.

If not for good fortune about a decade and a half ago, Sarah might still be in Iraq herself. The Costa Mesa resident, who graduated from Estancia High School on Thursday, fled with her family to the United States in 1992, the year after the Persian Gulf War ended. Her uncle managed to secure American visas for Sarah, her parents and two brothers, and they landed in New York when Sarah was 4.

On Tuesday, she was one of 10 graduates honored by Assistance League of Newport-Mesa for showing exceptional effort to succeed in school. For Sarah, who plans to major in neuroscience at UCLA, it was quite a different path than she might have taken in her home country. Part of the reason her parents left Iraq, she said, is because they didn’t want their children to be fed pro-Saddam propaganda in school.

The Assistance League targets its annual scholarships at students who have overcome massive odds. Tuesday’s luncheon and awards ceremony marked the 51st year of the league’s Community Outreach Program.

“These are not necessarily kids who have a lot of other scholarships,” said Barbara Kimler, an independent marketing consultant who works with Assistance League. “They don’t have full rides to their college of choice.”

During the luncheon, held at the league’s headquarters on Fairview Road, staff members gave $1,000 each to the graduates, all of whom are attending college in the fall.

Apart from Sarah, the other students honored were Kirsten Miller from Estancia High School; Harrison Brown and Brittany Grams from Newport Harbor High School; Stephanie Monette, Michele Sievert and Sabina Wee from Costa Mesa High School; Daniel Rivera and Alyssa Vega from Back Bay High School, and Aurelia Hargis from Orange Coast Middle College High School.

To apply for an Assistance League scholarship, students must write two essays ? one about their financial situation, the other about their service to the community ? and also submit two letters of recommendation. This year, according to chairwoman Ellen Edwards, the league received about 25 applicants.

Speaking at the ceremony were two former winners of Assistance League scholarships: Fidel Gomez, currently an international business major at Cal State Fullerton, and Dave Grant, the former president of Orange Coast College.

“In real estate, they say the three most important words are ‘location, location, location,’ ” Grant told the audience. “Well, in real life, it’s ‘persistence, persistence, persistence,’ and that’s what pays off.”

Rivera, 19, said afterward that persistence had been his personal savior, as he overcame a drug problem to graduate from Back Bay this year. He plans to attend Vanguard University and become a pastor.

“I just want to fulfill my calling and my destiny,” he said.dpt.28-league-2-cw-BPhotoInfo5J1SDNUU20060628j1jy4jnc CHRISTOPHER WAGNER / DAILY PILOT(LA)Sarah Muradian, an Estancia High School graduate, is the recipient of a $1,000 Assistance League scholarship.