< Previous30 COASTMONTHLY.COM / July 2018AHMED E. AHMED‘I can find what I’m looking for’For Ahmed E. Ahmed, being an American is about a person’s character and soul.“Without the fertile American soil and pure souls of American people, the American dream wouldn’t exist and would have never been realized by any immigrant,” he said.Ahmed, 76, was born in the city of Qena, Egypt. His family migrated to Cairo for education and employment but decided to move to the United States in 1969 for greater career opportuni-ties, he said. He now resides in the Clear Lake area and is a professor emeritus at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.“Although I had a comfortable living in Egypt with a good job, I was restless and missing the challenge I was looking for after graduation from pharmacy school,” he said. “I knew through my readings and some colleagues that America is the place where I can find what I am looking for.”America isn’t about a person’s ethnicity; it’s about empathy and character, Ahmed said.“I love Americans and their compassionate hearts,” he said. “The warmth of the hearts of people all around me and my wife, as well as the warmth of the weather, glued us here for the past 40-plus years.”– Story by Connor Behrens Photo by Stuart Villanueva“Without the fertile American soil and pure souls of American people, the American dream wouldn’t exist and would have never been realized by any immigrant.”– AHMED E. AHMED COASTMONTHLY.COM / July 2018 33VERDIA HARPER‘I remember the ‘colored only’ signs’Verdia Lee Green Harper of La Marque grew up at a time when African-Americans took pride in “doing what they had to do” to survive and make it as citizens of America.Born on a farm in Evergreen, Texas, in August of 1930, Harper endured trying and good times with her family through the Great Depression, segregation, Jim Crow laws — all the way to the Civil Rights era — and even the election of the first black president.“I remember the ‘colored only’ signs as a young girl, and now, look how far we’ve come,” Harper said. “The opportunity for African-Americans to now be whatever they put their minds to, including becoming president, is something I’m so proud to have seen in my lifetime.”Although her father only had a first-grade education, and her mother completed seventh grade, education was very important in the Green household, as was working the farm and go-ing to church every Sunday, she said. Harper was the first person in her family to graduate from high school and college.Harper graduated from Prairie View A&M University and began her teaching career in 1952 in Athens, Texas. She retired in 1991 from the La Marque Independent School District, and still lives in the same home she moved into in 1960 with her husband of 63 years, Herman. They raised their three children in the home.“I feel blessed and grateful to be an American,” Harper said. “We are all the same, no matter the color of our skin. And, even though I went through some hardships, I never gave up on life. My dad always said that God is ‘the doctor.’ So, that’s who I always depend on through my faith, no matter how rough it gets.”– Story by Angela Wilson Photo by Kelsey Walling “I have become a new person who is not afraid of challenges and have more self-reliance, and my kids are more open-minded and value human values more than anything else.”– SAMINA MASOOD COASTMONTHLY.COM / July 2018 35SAMINA MASOOD‘I value the diversity and freedom’Samina Masood was born in Pakistan but left for America at the peak of her academic career just as she was about to get a promotion to the rank of professor. Losing that professional rec-ognition in Pakistan was a disappointment, she said. But she gained other valuable things in the United States, she said.Masood, 59, became an American citizen in 2005 in Syracuse, N.Y., after she had moved to the United States with her husband and three children.“My husband had been sponsored before I got married, and I became aware of it after mar-riage as the application process started around eight years after the marriage, so it was almost a forgotten thing,” she said.Masood, who lives in the Clear Lake area, is an associate professor of physics at the Universi-ty of Houston-Clear Lake.Becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen marked a time of meaningful personal growth for her, she said.“I have become a new person who is not afraid of challenges and have more self-reliance, and my kids are more open-minded and value human values more than anything else,” Masood said.“At the same time, I have sacrificed my pleasures of a strong family network and feel isolated. My childhood friends have no replacement either.”She does not regret her choices, however, she said.“I believe that I made the best decisions that I could at the time and nothing can be achieved without giving up something,” Masood said.She is writing a memoir about her experiences and the complicated feelings of balancing fam-ily, career and identity as an American citizen.“Now it means a lot as I value the diversity and freedom, though I feel that I have to pay a big price of losing my academic recognition,” she said.– Story by Valerie Wells Photo by Stuart Villanueva COASTMONTHLY.COM / July 2018 37ANTONIO CORRALES + REBECCA TROCONIS‘We feel at home here now’Antonio Corrales and Rebecca Troconis of Tiki Island moved to the United States nearly 16 years ago, fleeing political persecution in their home country of Venezuela.While the couple had to rebuild their careers and live in a new country, the process was easi-er than they expected, Antonio Corrales said.“We are really fortunate,” he said. “We feel at home here now. We’ve been here so many years, and we love it, and don’t see us living anywhere else. Texas welcomed us with open arms.”Before coming to America, Antonio Corrales, 43, worked as a civil engineer and later ran for governor, when he started receiving threats.Rebecca Troconis, 41, meanwhile, had been an architect.“Just the way Chavez played politics, my wife said she couldn’t handle it anymore,” Antonio Corrales said. “We decided to get out of the country.”Hugo Chavez was elected president of Venezuela in 1998, a position he maintained until he died in March 2013.The couple debated whether to move to Europe or the United States, but regular vacations to America tipped the scales in favor of the states.Both Rebecca Troconis and Antonio Corrales initially maintained their original careers as architect and civil engineer, respectively. But a troubled real estate market combined with a passion for education, led to a change in careers, they said.All these years since moving to the United States, Antonio Corrales is now a professor of education at the University of Houston-Clear Lake and Rebecca Troconis works for Texas City Independent School District.“America means a lot to us,” Antonio Corrales said. “Immigrants, a lot of times, appreciate things here even more than if you’re born here naturally. We know a lot about the history and love the way America opens its arms to immigrants. It’s given us an opportunity not only to find shelter, but to create wealth and opportunity.”– Story by Matt deGrood Photo by Jennifer Reynolds38 COASTMONTHLY.COM / July 2018MAGDY AKLADIOS‘I just like the country’When he was a child, Magdy Akladios often visited his many cousins who lived in the United States.“They were born here,” he said. “I was coming since I was a little kid.”Akladios, who was born and raised in Egypt, earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engi-neering from Cairo University.On his next visit to family in the United States, he decided to stay. He became a U.S. natural-ized citizen in 1990.His reasons are simple and straightforward.“I wanted to live here,” he said. “I just like the country.”He first arrived in Pittsburgh, Pa., then lived in New York and West Virginia before moving to Texas. He earned three master’s degrees, then completed a doctorate in industrial engineering.Akladios, 49, heads the School of Science and Computer Engineering at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. He has taught at the school since 2005.He lives in Friendswood with his wife, who also grew up in Cairo, Egypt, and is now a bank manager, and their three children. They love Texas and Friendswood.“I love the neighborhood,” Akladios said. “It’s quiet.”– Story by Valerie Wells Photo by Stuart Villanueva COASTMONTHLY.COM / July 2018 39“I wanted to live here. I just like the country.”– MAGDY AKLADIOSNext >