Nagla Mohamed-Lamin is a Whatcom Community College alum who was featured in in BBC’s 100 Women of 2023. Here is her journey from finding Whatcom Community College and navigating college as a Muslim, building a library center in Western Sahara and being recognized by the BBC.

This story was originally featured in Whatcom Community College's Spring 2024 quarterly newsletter.

Why and how did you choose WCC?

My journey to Whatcom Community College was very unique and different from what one might expect. I did not sit and start looking at different schools to try and find what fits my budget or if it is far or close to my house. I didn't even know what a college application was. Because I never heard of one. The whole process was too new for me to comprehend. I heard of WCC while talking about the idea of going to school with my friend Joey. He was the one who actually gave me the idea of trying to find a school in the USA. He told me about his sister who lives in Bellingham. She heard him once talk about me and that I was trying to go to college and she said, "if your friend can make it to a school somewhere near here, we have an extra room for her, and we will cover her living expenses while she is studying here”. She again called him and said, have you heard of WCC? Let's see if she can apply there. That's how I heard of WCC.

Can you tell us about your work and what and how you became inspired by it?

I was born into a political conflict that shaped my life and still presents a huge difficulty. I was born, raised and continue to live in the Sahrawi refugee camps (in southwest Algeria, where in 1975 the native people of Western Sahara were forced to flee their homeland because of the Moroccan invasion of their land).

I have been a human rights activist from as far back as I can remember. My work has always been about helping my people and making sure their voices are heard. So, it was inevitable for me to be doing this work I am doing today. I do not see myself as being inspired by this situation. I have always seen it as an obligation to try and make change. It was never a choice for me to be doing this type of work. I had to do it. I represent Sahrawi youth in international forums, conferences, and at international organizations. This includes the National Union of Saharawi Women as well as Sahrawi Human Rights Council for the International Human Rights Council in Geneva.

After WCC I established and currently run a local library center named the Almasar Center which provides three areas of support: teaching the importance of reading among the Sahrawi children, educating women on the topics of breastfeeding and breast cancer and very importantly we teach women and children about the importance of environmental issues of water reservation, planting trees, gardening, and harvesting seeds. We work to adopt new habits to help us find solutions to the environmental difficulties we experience here in the camps which are food insecurity and water crises.

Did your experience at WCC have an influence or impact on your career and future work, and if so, can you describe that?

My time in WCC influenced the work I am doing today. At WCC I served as the Co-President of the Sustainability Club for two years. I experienced firsthand the effects of climate change on my people living in refugee camps. From temperatures above 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit), unusual flooding, water crises and more. My education at WCC allowed me to dig more into the root causes of those issues, and how to tackle them with sustainable solutions. I did not know what sustainability even meant at the time. I had never gardened or planted trees. I learned all of this as the Co-President of the Sustainability Club. It was during my English 201 class at WCC, while writing a reflection essay one day, that I had the idea of building a library center for children in the refugee camps and to apply the sustainability knowledge I was gaining at WCC. I have always been a reader and loved books, but I never had a chance to read as a child. As I was leaving class that day, I met with my instructor Katherine Burns and I told her about my idea. I needed confirmation that this idea was not too crazy to achieve. She supported it from the first moment. That was winter of 2017. By Fall of 2019, the Almasar Center was open and fully functioning for children in the camps.

 How was your experience here at WCC and how did the campus community nurture your passion?

I made lifelong friendships at WCC and I also experienced some very difficult times, it was not very easy. At the same time, I learned so much which changed my opinions on many things, and I experienced many eye-opening, empowering adventures. As a Muslim woman coming from a refugee camp in north Africa, from an Arab Middle Eastern culture, arriving at a small college somewhere northwest USA was kind of a crazy idea.

On top of that, I had not been in school for 12 years. Everything was unrecognizable and unfamiliar. The only thing that looked familiar to me were the yellow school buses I saw around Bellingham, of which I had seen in movies back home. I was extremely scared and nervous and did not know what was right or wrong to do at the college. I was afraid I would look stupid, and that I would not pass my classes. Some days were paralyzing.

However, slowly but surely, I started getting an understanding of things. I made friends, built a community inside and outside of WCC, found two jobs (working as a custodian in the afternoons/evenings and at the Interculture Center during the day). One of the most difficult aspects at WCC was managing my jobs while attending class. I had to work to pay my tuition all by myself and needed to earn $3,600 dollars every quarter, which was a fortune for someone like me. Fall quarter was particularly difficult academically because I had to miss class for one week to go to NYC to attend and represent my people (Sahrawi) at the United Nations (UN) Fourth Committee. This time away from classes was very difficult, especially the sciences classes. But being invited to attend a UN Committee was an opportunity and obligation. But missing it was not negotiable. Even if it meant it would affect my grades at WCC.

The hardest part for me was when instructors did not fully comprehend that I was trying to do my best to be in class, and to achieve excellent grades, be an ideal student and work two jobs--it seemed impossible to do it all and not fall short on some of it. I always tried to arrive on time, submit schoolwork on time, and to participate and be an excellent student but my particular situation did not allow that all the time. For example, I could not afford to buy textbooks, which meant I had to use the library textbooks. I think I spent 90% of my evenings those years at the WCC library. I would go there right after my afternoon work shift as a custodian.

No matter how hard I tried, it was difficult to convey to people the complexity of my situation. From the story of my background, my people, the obligation to represent my Muslim community during the previous US government administration was extremely stressful. To be from the Middle East, trying to correct the misconceptions that some people on campus had about Muslims and also dealing with the impacts of US foreign policy. It was a tangled ball of challenges. Somehow, I managed to navigate it to my best of abilities. Looking back, I would not change any of it. I am so appreciative and lucky to have lived through such experiences and become empowered by my education. They are treasures from my past that I revisit often, for inspiration, for wisdom and humor and are stories that I share with family, friends, at conferences, seminars, and trainings, and even during speeches at the United Nation Headquarters.

How was your adjustment experience at WCC and did you receive the support you need to acclimate?

The best thing for me, were the orientation sessions and the amazing instructors who did not wait for me to ask for help but reached out to help me navigate the class, and shared about available resources. Jason Babcock was the first teacher to reach out to me when I missed class three days in a row. I lost someone in my family who was a mother figure to me. It was so painful that I almost went back to my family in the refugee camps. I was in bed grieving. This occurred only three weeks after arriving at WCC. One morning, I got an email from Jason asking how I was, and if everything was okay. I explained what happened. He said to take the time I need, and when I am back, I should come and talk with him. He was so supportive and kind. He told me about the Math Center, the Intercultural Center and basically became my mentor. I would visit his office hours for anything I did not understand or needed help with.

What other support systems were the most beneficial to you?

The most beneficial support systems for me were the personalized help from staff to work out flexible arrangements for issues that were out of my control.

Heidi Wassen from the International office helped me coordinate with the office where the tuition was paid and helped me arrange an extension on the tuition due date. This gave me the time needed to save up to pay my full tuition. Without this kind of support, it would not have been possible for me to continue.

Other services including the Intercultural center, the Math Center, and my advisors' help, and instructor office hours. A students' success depends not only on the student or instructor, but on the support from everyone working at WCC.

Someone I adore who worked at the library, Linda Compton was always very helpful. The most appreciated instance was one evening, when she saw me struggling to walk, and asked how I was. I explained that I had worked three shifts in a row at my custodian job and was so tired that I could barely walk, but I still had to do homework and prepare for an exam the next day. She invited me inside the library and encouraged me rest on a sofa, got me a hot tea and said to rest until I could get back to my schoolwork. Her kindness was not a system or process; this was caring from a member of the WCC community. So many people helped me along the way, Randy Cross, Lauri Gill, Betsy Hasegawa, Beth Robinson, and Russel Sherif, the Math Center, my advisors and joining clubs to help build networks of friends.

Randy, my boss at my custodian job often asked me if I had eaten dinner when he did not see me eating during dinner breaks. He got me so many delicious dinners that I could never afford, as I was always saving for tuition.

What advice would you give a student coming to WCC?

I want to tell WCC students to not only look for knowledge and experience in classrooms, or through their grades. I learned so much from finding time to serve the community, participating in events and creating events that others could join and learn from.

Build friendships with international students, with students who do not look like you or have the same ethnic or religious background as you. Do not stick to only what's familiar. To all of those who are coming to class carrying a lot of disadvantages because of poverty, immigration status, skin color or any barrier whether familiar to others or not, speak up for yourself, tell your story, look for people who have things in common with you and be allies.

Talk to your teachers and advisors. Learn about the school resources available to you. And if your needs are not met then advocate for them so others can struggle less than you did. Basically, fight to benefit to the fullest from your time at WCC, and let others learn from you.

Yes, strive to learn and excel in your classes, but do not worry too much if your grades are not always As or Bs. When you leave school, those grades are not the only thing that matters. What is important is your ability to adapt to the outside reality, and to find ways to be a human who looks beyond their needs. When you leave WCC, that's when the real adventure will start. Follow your vision because you have no idea how much you can help yourself and others.

Click the links below to learn more!

Almasar Center documentary

How Sahrawis See the Western Sahara Conflict by Najla Mohamedlamin: National Interest Publication