Ukrainian Woman Finds School ‘Very Different’ At Vance-Granville
In discussing the record-breaking enrollment every semester at Vance-Granville Community College, President Robert A. Miller is prone to say, “I don’t know where all the students are coming from.”
At least one of them enrolled at VGCC this fall has come all the way from the Ukraine to study.
Lyubov Karcha is doing something here she could not do in her native country in the southwestern part of the former Soviet Union – attend college. “Only the young people can go to college in my country,” she said. “After you are 35, you cannot begin college,” said Karcha, who is 39.
The Ukrainian visitor is in the United States and Vance County due to the kindness and hospitality of her “angels,” Sam and Susan Newton. Susan Newton, a nurse, and her husband went to Ukraine two years on medical missions for the Baptist Church. While there they stayed in the home of Lyubov Karcha and her husband, Nickolai, a Baptist minister, in L’viv.
Nickolai was killed in a plane crash, leaving Lyubov and their son, David, alone. When David completed as much high school as was available in Ukraine, he came to the United States in 2000 and stayed with the Newtons while completing high school at Kerr-Vance Academy. Lyubov came to see her son graduate in May 2001. David is currently a sophomore at Campbell University.
While here, Lyubov Karcha, with the urging and support of the Newtons, obtained a student visa and enrolled at Vance-Granville Community College. “In my country it is not easy to go to college,” said Lyubov, who took some bookkeeping and accounting classes while Ukraine was still a part of the Soviet Union. But since she was a Christian and not a communist, she could not take full advantage of the national education opportunities.
And then the Soviet Union broke apart, and Ukraine became an independent nation. Then, not only did going to college become difficult, but life itself grew harder in the poor, corrupt nation, Karcha said.
“My country is trying to be better, but it is very difficult and it will be a long process before things get better for the people,” she said.
Lyubov Karcha began taking classes at Vance-Granville during summer term this year and is enrolled in fall semester classes. She is taking basic courses in English and reading and math, and she hopes to major in accounting.
“Lyubov knew very little of our language, but she has worked very hard on it,” said Susan Newton, who Karcha says is her best tutor. “We have worked with her like teaching a child to learn to read.
“Once she gets the English down, she should have no problems then,” Newton said. “Lyubov is really quick at math, and she is highly motivated.”
During the summer, the Baptist Church brought children and families to visit this area from Belarus, another former Soviet republic. Lyubov was helpful to local Baptists in dealing with the visitors, who spoke little or no English. “But it was good for Lyubov, too, to have to think about what she was telling them,” said Susan Newton
Lyubov says she finds life and studies on the VGCC campus challenging but interesting and rewarding. Since Vance-Granville has so few foreign students, it is not really set up to handle their unique problems. Lyubov said that Kathy Ktul, the college’s registrar, has been very helpful because she has past experience with international students.
Lyubov Karcha said she finds her fellow students have different reactions when they find where she comes from. “They are interested in different things about me, my country and my culture,” she said. “But there have been a lot of people who tried to help me when I’m confused or not sure of something.”
Lyubov has had a chance to travel to Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., and says, “I grew up in a large city, but it is not my dream to live in one. I like Henderson, the rural area.”
The Ukrainian lady speaks highly of the beauty of North Carolina. “You have very nice beaches, and the Outer Banks are amazing,” she said, having visited there in May with David and the Newtons. She also said the Boone area and the Blue Ridge Parkway were beautiful.
Lyubov Karcha said she’s not making any long-range plans right now. “I’m just taking it one day at a time,” she said. She is happy that David is able to go to college and to work on campus at Campbell. She is happy to be living with Sam and Susan Newton and attending Vance-Granville Community College. She is happy for the prayers of her friends at Central Baptist Church and for the generosity of a family in the church who set up a scholarship fund that is making it possible for her and David to go to college.
Although her English is not yet at the point of fluency, Lyubov Karcha can express her feelings clearly by saying, “I am thankful to God for making this all come together.”