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When Wedad Rahmoun arrived in the Quad Cities with her family in October 2024, she brought a pharmacy degree, years of study and a steadfast commitment to becoming a pharmacist.
What she didn’t know was that pursuing pharmacy in the U.S. would mean beginning again. Now, as students across the nation head back to school, Wedad is too.
A Dream Years in the Making
Originally from Aleppo, Syria, Wedad spent about 10 years living as a refugee in Jordan. There, she discovered a love for chemistry and biology, especially the way the human body’s systems work together.
“I was always curious about how this connection works,” she said. “How this kind of chemistry makes the connection and makes the signal. I love that.”
That interest led her to pharmacy. After graduating from high school with a 97.8% average, Wedad earned a scholarship for Syrian refugees and enrolled at Zarqa University. She completed more than four years of study and earned her pharmacy degree shortly before leaving Jordan for the U.S., where World Relief staff welcomed her family.
Starting Over in an Unfamiliar System
But as Wedad began again in the Quad Cities, she did not know whether her education would be recognized or what it would take to become a pharmacist in the U.S.
The possibility of starting over was not easy to accept.
“It was four years of effort,” she said. “I couldn’t throw all that away.”
Although Wedad had studied pharmacy using English-language materials in Jordan, everyday conversation was much harder.
“If you were talking to me about complicated pharmacology, I would understand,” she said. “But if we were talking about ‘How are you?’ and ‘What did you do?’ I would be like, ‘What are you talking about?’”
Two months after arriving, Wedad enrolled in World Relief’s Career Pathways program and began working with coordinator Kelly Wendt.
Together, they explored whether Wedad’s degree could be evaluated and transferred into a U.S. pharmacy pathway. They soon learned the process would be more complicated than expected. Wedad would need to complete substantial additional education.
“So, we pivoted,” Kelly said.
Turning an Overwhelming Process Into a Plan
Kelly guided Wedad in taking manageable steps forward: They explored credential evaluation, prerequisite courses, financial aid, scholarships and pharmacy programs. Kelly helped Wedad complete forms, schedule advising appointments, communicate with universities and think through her options.
She also kept returning to one important question.
“What do you want to do? Where do you see yourself?” Kelly said. “When you’re faced with all these opportunities, sometimes it’s overwhelming. I had to bring it back to what she wanted.”
Wedad’s answer never changed.
“I want to be that clinical pharmacist,” she said. “Whatever the situation is, whatever path I have to go through, I need to have another plan. If Plan A didn’t work, I could make Plan B work.”
One Step at a Time
Wedad enrolled at Scott Community College in Iowa to complete prerequisite courses and earn an associate degree.
Her academic performance qualified her to join The National Society of Leadership and Success, an honor society available to students with a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Refugee Career Pathways paid the one-time $95 membership fee so she could participate.
That support was small in cost, but meaningful in what it made possible. Wedad gained access to leadership development and joined a community of students working toward their own goals.
In May 2026, she graduated from Scott Community College. The milestone reflected not only her academic ability, but also the persistence it took to keep moving through an unfamiliar system.
Kelly saw that drive from the beginning.
“She’s determined, and she’s very, very smart,” Kelly said. “I’m so proud of her. She worked so hard toward this goal.”
Another Door Opens
Even before graduation, Wedad started researching the next step.
She wanted a pharmacy program that would move her closer to becoming a clinical pharmacist while allowing her to remain near her family. After exploring several options, she found a program at Butler University in Indiana that could be completed mostly online, with a limited number of required in-person sessions.
The program felt like the right fit, yet Wedad wasn’t confident she would be accepted.
She submitted her application at the end of May, just before the deadline. When Butler invited her to interview, she worried that speaking with professors in English would become another barrier.
But just four days after the interview, on June 26, an email arrived that said it all: “Congratulations.”
Wedad had been accepted. “I could not believe it,” she said.
After months of uncertainty and more than one setback, the next step in her plan was finally clear. She is scheduled to begin classes in August 2026.
Building Toward a Career in Clinical Pharmacy
Wedad hopes to become a clinical pharmacist, working with hospital teams to help guide medication and patient care. She knows the road ahead will take time and may bring more changes.
“You have to be patient,” Wedad said. “If you are patient, you will get somewhere, you will have an opportunity and you will be successful in some way.”
She credits her faith, her family and Kelly’s support with helping her continue.
“My faith in God, my family’s support and having Kelly to help me all said, ‘You can do that. You have to try again,’” she said. “It was hard, but we got there.”
Arrival Is Only the Beginning
Wedad’s story shows why welcome extends beyond arrival. Refugees and other immigrants often bring years of education and experience, but unfamiliar systems can make it hard to continue.
Through Refugee Career Pathways, World Relief Quad Cities helped Wedad understand her options and take the next step.
Now, as students head back to school, Wedad is returning too, this time as an incoming pharmacy student.
Her path has changed, but her purpose has not.
Your support helps refugees and other immigrants like Wadad pursue education, meaningful careers and a future where they can flourish.