Lada Protcheva left Ukraine in March, just weeks after the war began. Now, she has found community at Eastern Michigan University, where she studies computer science.
"The first day of the war, it was my birthday, and the whole Ukraine was bombed at the same moment and we had to stay in the basement for one week," Protcheva said. "It was the same basement where my grandma used to hide from Hitler during World War II."
At the time, the Protcheva family's country home near Kiev was bombed often and her family could hear bombing everyday.
"When it started, I think that nobody could expect it. We heard some news that probably Russia would invade us on February 14, so they didn't and then after February 14 we kind of just relaxed," Protcheva said. "But when it started, all my friends started to text me that their cities were bombed so because we live in different parts of Ukraine and it was probably 4 a.m."
After about a week, Protcheva's father felt that his daughter needed to leave the country and her sister was already waiting for her in the United States. So, after being driven to the Moldova border, Protcheva traveled to Romania, from Romania to Turkey, and from Turkey to the U.S.
Her grandmother and father remain in Ukraine. Her grandmother doesn't want to leave the country and her dad is unable to, as all men under 60 years old have to stay in case they are drafted. Protcheva had to say goodbye to them and others, with no exact idea as to when she will see them again.
With the help of her sister, who is a graduate of EMU, Protcheva was able to receive a scholarship from the university and started as a student studying computer science this fall.
When the war began, EMU stated that the university supported Ukraine and could help if anything was needed. So, Protcheva's sister emailed administrators about her sister's situation and that they did not have the money to pay for tuition.
"[EMU] mailed us back saying they would probably develop a new kind of scholarship for Ukrainians," Protcheva said. "I think like two months later they emailed us saying 'yeah you can apply for this scholarship, we have a new program for Ukrainians.'"
In 2018, Protcheva came to EMU's campus to visit her sister, and it has been her dream to come to the U.S. and be an EMU student ever since. Despite the difficult circumstances, her time at the university so far has been a good experience.
"I have been here for two months and I really enjoy the process because all people around are so friendly and you get actually useful knowledge," Protcheva said. "I met a lot of international students here because EMU has really huge international students community and I think that I met probably like 20 friends here in just the first two months."
While the war in Ukraine is not being talked about as much as it was in the start, Protcheva wants people to know that it is still happening.
"Russia still bombs civilians. For example, even the capital of Ukraine, Kiev, it is bombed probably once a month at least, so downtown where civilians live, they can be bombed at any moment," Protcheva said. "Also, it's like the most famous, the best university in Ukraine, Taras Shevchenko, probably one month ago, it was bombed."
Protcheva said that the best way that people can help is by simply spreading information.
"It's just information war also, because if everybody stays silent, there will be no actions and also Ukraine needs a lot of volunteers and support people who lost their houses for example because a lot of cities in Ukraine are already destroyed," Protcheva said.
Protcheva also feels that it is important for people to recognize the other countries that are going through similar issues, but aren't talked about at all.
"I know a lot of international students who have kind of the same situations but nobody talks about it," Protcheva said. "I think just like that we still have support people and not only talk about Ukraine because a lot of countries suffer from all of this so I think that we should just be kind and help people who need help and suffer in this moment because you can be in the same situation at any moment."
