Morgan Hill Today 2013 06 Summer | Page 18

From War Torn Iran A Young Artist Follows Her Dream

Written & Photographed By Laura Wrede

1978 was a year forever imprinted in the mind of a young woman named Sheri Chakamian ( her married name ). Sheri had recently graduated high school and was preparing to go off to college .

It was a record-setting year for blizzards that crippled the Midwest and Northeast . The Hillside Strangler terrorized Los Angeles and Love Canal ’ s toxic waste dump reared its ugly head . Here in the Bay Area , Harvey Milk and George Moscone were assassinated . It was turbulent times . For Sheri , however , the situations in the U . S . somehow dwarfed in comparison to what was happening elsewhere in the world , especially at her home in Iran .
Sheri came to the U . S . from Tehran , Iran to go to college . In 1978 Iran faced a full-scale revolution as tensions between political factions rapidly exploded . With the political changes in the country came a growing hostility towards the United States and Iran ’ s resistance to Western influence .
Amid the political upheaval and tragedies , ordinary citizens went about their day trying to live a normal life . People went to work , married , had babies , and kids like Sheri left home for college . As violence escalated in her home in Tehran , Sheri was busy making plans to pursue a degree in medicine . It would prove to be a sacrificial decision going to school in the U . S .
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