'Given the opportunity' - PSU Daily Vanguard - June 6, 2008

Student commencement speaker Tamam Waritu has overcome setbacks to provide motivation to others.

At 16 years old, Tamam Waritu entered his freshman year at Jefferson High School with what most American schools would consider a fifth-grade education level.

He spoke no English. He was experiencing culture shock. And when he moved to the United States from Ethiopia in 1999, he lived in a two-bedroom apartment in Northeast Portland with his parents and 11 siblings.

More than eight years later, Waritu, 24, is preparing to speak in front of the other 4,737 graduates and around 100 family members and friends at Portland State's commencement ceremony at the Rose Garden on June 14.

"The only reason I am here is that I was given the opportunity," Waritu said.

Waritu serves as the president of the Gadab Foundation, which has assisted 24 students since it was established two years ago. Read More.