Garret Rohan

Notes from interview

Questions:
What was it like growing up?

born in Aleppo, Syria.

Aleppo is the largest city in Syria located in the north close to the

Turkish borders.
Just like most Arab families, had a big family.
father worked a lot, mom stayed at home handling the day to day

concerns
grew up in a country ruled by a dictator so some things were prohibited
and there were many red lines when it came to political or government

engagement.
felt constrained but like all Syrians, learnt how to cope with the

situation and go on with life.

father worked for a few years in Saudi Arabia, spent middle school
there.

What made you pursue a career in science?

a curious person in nature and was always interested in the questions

of why? and how?.

father is a physician and medical school professor.
As a pathologist, I watched my father solve medical mysteries and

answer scientific questions related to cancer.

During summer break in high school, used to go to his clinic and he
would sometimes discuss with a case and ask ayman to look at a tissue

specimen or a slide under the microscope.

Then would give a book to read about that disease.

The book was in English and was barely able to read it but his father

would still encourage to try.

After high school went to pharmacy school
by the third year realized that he was not fit to work in retail pharmacy

but was very interested in drug discovery and development.

wanted a career where I am able to make things and innovate.
used to say that there are mainly two kinds of people in the world
when it comes to science, those who discover and explain things and

those who benefit from those discoveries and innovations.

wanted to be on the producers side of science.

What is your current position?

currently an assistant professor of pharmaceutical science at Mercer

University, college of pharmacy in Atlanta, GA.

Do you enjoy your current job?

Enjoys it very much.

able to do the things he is passionate about with his job, teaching and

research.
Teaching is one of passions that he enjoys very much. The classroom,
the lecture, the interaction with students, and being able to advance
others knowledge to help them achieve their goals gives great
pleasure and motivation.

Tell me about how your job impacts others lives

Hopes many aspects of job would have a positive impact on others

life.
As a teacher and educator, apart of training the next generation of
pharmacist as healthcare professionals.

also part of shaping up what a pharmacy program training should be

about to have the best outcomes for our society.

As a mentor, playing a major role in the development of students into
pharmacists or scientists and advancing them closer to their career

and professional goals.

As a scientist, hopes to make a positive impact on all of our life by
advancing medical science and help in resolving scientific problems

related to healthcare.
Hopes to be able to contribute to the discovery of therapies for

diseases that are not curable at the moment.

hopes that through my job I am able to help individuals realize their
dreams and help humanity in improving healthcare.

What do you feel where your biggest obstacles in achieving your academic
goals?

lacked self-confidence.
Coming from a small country like Syria where not much scientific
research takes place, was not confident in abilities and skills to be able
to successfully complete a PhD program in the best country on earth

for research, America.

Building up confidence took a long time and much effort from mentors
and himself.

What do you feel where your biggest obstacles in achieving your personal
goals?

personal goals were essentially tied to my academic and career goals.

deciding to pursue a PhD in a foreign country did delay things like
starting a family that otherwise would have wanted to do.

What do you feel where your biggest obstacles in achieving your career
goals?

spent life in school and not much accumulating work experience.

Feels this has hindered a bit in terms of finding a job

Tell me a bit about your family, your parents, siblings, and close ones etc.

one of six children, and number two in order.

has three sisters and two brothers
Is the oldest son.
Except for youngest brother who is in high school, all of siblings went

to college.
oldest sister has a degree in education, younger two sisters have
degrees in pharmacy and communication engineering. Younger brother

is about to finish his college in Information technology.

father is a physician and mother dropped out of college in her second

year as she started having kids.

has been married for almost six years and has two children.
wife was born in the US to Syrian parents and both of kids were born in
Pittsburgh, PA while in grad school.

What does it mean to you to be Muslim?

Islam is not a religion only; it is a way of life.

The holy book Quran and the teaching of the prophet Muhammed

cover everything about all aspects of the life of a Muslim.

being a Muslim, is about being a force for good in this world.
As a Muslim it is of belief that he is responsible for all of Gods creation.
Being a Muslim is not only about praying and worshiping, it is also
about helping others, caring for others, standing up for the truth,
spreading peace and mercy and seeking the betterment of self and all
of humanity.

the core of being a Muslim, is to have the best morals as a human

being.
treat all with respect and dignity as fellow human beings before
anything else.

What does it mean to you to be Syrian?

doesnt like to associate with geographical boundaries but rather with

human qualities.
Throughout history, the people of Syria faced so many challenges.
But they always showed resilience, courage and hope for a better

future.
thinks being a Syrian to me is about being resilient and remaining
hopeful in the face of hardships.

What were your initial feelings when you first came to America?

had a mix of feelings.

seemed a larger than life dream to think that someday would be able

to come to America and pursue dreams.

America was always the land where the future of better life happens.
On the other hand, it is far away from home, a place very different

from home and a place of many unknowns.

Before coming to America, tried to educate as much as possible on
what life in America is like. When first arrived to America, felt amazed,
excited and hopeful on one hand; anxious and overwhelmed on the
other.

Did you have any difficulties adjusting culturally?

had anticipated a lot of things and prepared self for that.

was lucky to have met people who were very nice and helpful.

had experienced a foreign country in the west before coming to the US,

spent a couple of months in Berlin, Germany learning German.

that experience allowed time to gain some insights into living in a

western country.
the US, it is the mixture of people from every corner of this planet that

gave a sense of belonging.

the main thing that was amazed about living in America.

How did your family escape from Syria?

As the violence in Syria grew larger and spread to hometown Aleppo,

started to get worried about the safety of family.

father was reluctant to leave but my siblings wanted to.
kept on trying to convince parents until one day they decided to leave

as they saw how dangerous living in Aleppo had become.

They sought to leave for Turkey given the proximity but because of the
war the two-hour trip to the Turkish border became an eight to ten-

hour drive.
They packed the important stuff and drove all in one car with the help

of a person serving as a navigator car who was doing this for money.
had no way to communicate with family before they entered Turkey

and knew the road was dangerous.

They had to drive into small towns and away from major roads trying

to avoid hot battle fronts or aerial bombing.

After almost 8 hours was able to call them as they arrived to the
Turkish borders.

What do you believe your biggest accomplishment is?

Never imagined or thought that would be able to get an advanced

degree in science from the US let alone to be training people to get
one now.

How was the process of obtaining your green card?

a lot of paper work but fairly straight forward.

Thought the law and the instructions were clear so all that was needed

was just to follow directions.

now a US citizen and think the naturalization process was much more

interesting than the green card process.

was sort of very humbling and empowering at the same time to
become an American. The pledge of allegiance, receiving first flag,

witnessing history for many people in the room unfold was fantastic.
the most striking thing was was being able to register to
vote.never voted in any election in entire life.

How do you feel about some Americans extreme and uneducated stance on
Muslims?

feels upset but not with those people, rather than with the idea of

stereotyping.
thinks that the Muslims are not doing enough to reach out and get to
know people and give people the opportunity to know Muslims.

thinks people are mostly misinformed and so they fall into the trap of

stereotyping.
happens the other way as well with regard how Muslims outside the US
perceive Americans.

always try to talk to community and Muslims met in the US about the
need to reach out and talk about who they are through actions on

issues that concern all people of America.

Believes that if people listen to Muslim ideas and opinions about things
like the economy, education, human rights, terrorism etc. will realize
that we all have the same aspirations and hopes

What are your views on Donald Trump?

Has nothing against him as a person.

issue with Mr. Trump is how he is running for president and the way he
is using peoples anger and fears into his advantage in a dangerous

way.
not in a position to judge his business skills or his policies (which he

agrees with him on a few)

thinks that his rhetoric has caused damage in society and in the fabric

of America.
Long before becoming an American, already felt like one because he
believed in liberty and justice for all. Mr. Trump rhetoric has been
tearing (in opinion) into those values by singling out groups and

basically demonizing anyone who disagrees with him.

If anything, thinks he did not give himself a fair chance to be

considered fairly and seriously as a presidential candidate.

He might have things to offer but a lot of people wont even listen to
him what because of what his seemingly angry and hateful rhetoric.

What was it like pursuing a PHD in a foreign country?

an empowering experience.

was a dream come true and to have been able to do that in the US at a

great institution (University of Pittsburgh) was just mind blowing.

it was challenging and had moments where questioned whether he

was going to succeed.

the fact that he was in a foreign country gave the determination to

keep forging ahead.

was thousands of miles away, invested too much effort and money to
get here and so did family so failure was never an option. The only
option was to finish successfully no matter what it takes.

What do you miss about Syria?

misses home, family, friends and memories.

those little things that always took for granted and never thought
about that now are rare. Certain festivities especially around religious
holidays makes him feel home sick a lot.