GREENSBORO, N.C. —  As high school students celebrate graduation, one of their greatest achievements, one student is doing it without her parents.

What You Need To Know

  •  Kseniaa Botezat will be attending UNC Greensboro in the fall of 2024
  •  Botezat came to Greensboro after the war broke out in Ukraine 
  •  Botezat’s parents watched the graduation from Ukraine

Kseniaa Botezat is graduating from Southeast High School in Greensboro. She is from Ukraine, where her parents still live.

“It’s very surreal to be honest. I never thought I would be here," Botezat said of being in the United States. “I’ve learned how to deal with it for for these past two years and their support through the phone is actually means a lot to me."

In 2022, Botezat's parents sent her to live in the U.S. with her grandparents, aunt and uncle when the war broke out in Ukraine.

Two years later, she’s still here.

“We said it's going to be just like a few months, explore. I didn't know I'm going to go to the high school,” she said. “I always dreamed of just looking at the yellow buses and not to ride them, you know.”

When Botezat walks across the stage, she’ll still have support from her family here and back home.

“It's very heartwarming knowing that a piece of my soul is here around me to support me,” she said.

Botezat will be attending UNC Greensboro in the fall and wants to become a nurse.