Life & Work with Marina Alexander

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marina Alexander. 

Hi Marina, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
My name is Marina Alexander Yousif, 

I was born in Baghdad, Iraq and I was 4 years old when I moved to Lebanon, Jounieh. My family decide to move to Lebanon because there was an economic blockade. During the war, there was a lot difficulties in lack of foods, electricities, doctors. They had to wait in line to get bread, also when they didn’t have bread, they taught them how to dough by themselves. 

Since I was young when I moved to Lebanon, I did not know a lot about my country Iraq. My family and I moved to Lebanon; however, we have struggled a lot because moving from one country to another is hard, especially for foreign people. 

Arabic is the common language that all middle eastern speak of course it is different dialogue in each country. We only had my uncle and his family there. My uncle was hired for a job in Lebanon, but he didn’t like this job, so he told the manager that my dad is interested in that job. After that my dad got my mom a job at the same place. When we came to Lebanon, we stayed at the hotel but after my dad found that job then that company helped us with finding an apartment and get settled. 

I went to school me and my older sister. We had to pay for our bus, and it got difficult for us later on with financial wise. My sister quit school and I was the only one who got the chance to study. My two younger siblings were born in Lebanon. It was a public school that I went too. Every day is English and twice a week is French. After a while, my uncle and his family left to USA. We applied to come to USA, we got declined first time then the second time we applied we got accepted. It was so hard for me to leave the country I was raise in and my friends which I am still in contact with till now. We settled in Chicago and stayed by my uncle until my family found work. Also, after a while me, and my sister start going to school and work to help our family and my younger sibling. It was hard for my dad because he doesn’t know English. It was easy for us but not for him because when it comes to hiring people, they need to be educated and know English fluently. My dad went to school to study English at night, and it helped build his language. Financially wise it was hard in Lebanon not just that even finding jobs was hard, but now is worse. It is safe country, and it is known for its natural wealth and beauty, but now it is expensive. I graduated from high school when I was 21 years than went to college, then went to university. 

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Of course, it has been a smooth road. To be honest, there was a lot of ups and downs that I went through, and it was so hard to handle it. Life is hard, not easy, but we have to fight it to get where we want to be. I have a quote in mind that I say to myself, “You got this Marina, and you can do it, you have been through so much, so this is nothin”. When I got to USA, I started high school and as you know for a foreign student, they need to take an exam to see what grade they will place you in. Since the foreign transcript from Lebanon does not balance the one in USA. I passed my 9th grade in Lebanon, so I had to be in 10th grade in USA, but they had me retake 9th grade. As foreign student, the English teacher that did the exam for me was shocked. I was able to write, read, and answer questions. I was placed in ESL 3-4 which is English as a second language. The teacher smiled and I asked her Why are you smiling? She said, ” I am shocked what level you are at now as a new student” and I told her, ” Listen not because we come from foreign countries that mean we don’t know English”. I also said to her let me surprise you more I speak 6 languages and she got shocked more. I was placed in Precalculus in my freshman year. I also got bullied in high school because I was smart and didn’t talk to people. I used to go back home crying, but the next day I wake up as if nothing happened. Because I had goals in mind that I had step up in my mind. I need to finish school be successful to help my family and make them proud of me. 

While I was attending my college, I wanted to become radiologist. I start taking anatomy and all medical classes. After that, I applied to medical school I went there for two semesters; however, after a while I drop off from the school because it got intense, and the counselor told me I need to quit job. So, I couldn’t quit job because I helped my family with everything. Right now, it is time to help my family and not them helping me so then I gave up on my medical school and I went to study for a different field which is business administration management. 

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Let me tell you more about myself more!!! I was an honor student from high school, college, and university with 3.80 GPA. I was a tutor at high school in precalculus, algebra, and geometry since I always used to get an A in my quizzes and exam then my teacher gave me the opportunity to become a tutor and help other students. During my junior and senior year, I was out of ESL program. Also, during high school I played basketball in the varsity team as a center. 

I speak 6 languages: Arabic, Assyrian, French, Turkish, English, and a little of Armenian. I am planning to study another language which I am studying it now which is Spanish. 

The most thing you need to know about me is that I love singing since I was young. I applied to the voice and got accepted but for my second audition my manager did not accept my vacation week, but I never gave up. I am planning to go to Lebanon once they have the voice season comes. I go live on Instagram and Snapchat and sing. I play guitar when I sing. To be honest, singing express my feeling and I just love it and I was also in a choir at the church too. 

I love traveling so much been to so many places like Lebanon, Australia, California, Dubai, San Diego, Colorado, Texas, San Francisco… I did skydive, bungee jump it was the best feeling. I love adventures and trying something different that I never tried. 

Now, I have a bachelor’s degree in business administration management, and I am planning to get my master’s degree in finance. As for now, I work at the bank as a teller and banker. 

I am a unique person because I multilingual language, I have a talent that I have given which is helping to translate people that need an assistant since they don’t know English. I am planning to find a different job where I can use my multilingual to help people more.

I am proud that I am Middle Eastern, and proud to be in USA because it helped study and accomplish my goals. I want to accomplish all the goals and dreams that I had setup already but it takes time so I have to be patient.

We love surprises, fun facts, and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I love singing, adventuring, traveling, and getting to know different cultures and countries because I like history and background of people. I love listening to people and hearing their stories whether it is good or bad. It does not matter because we have been through so much in our life so each one has a story. The people who know me they always say that I am so nice, patience, and lucky that I know that many languages. 

I used to be modeling in Chicago. 

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marina.official_04/?r=nametag

Image Credits
cfrphotography_nikon