30 D'MENSIONS MAGAZINE Buffalo was a whole new world for Malynych. In addition to the new sights, new language, new foods and the new stress of a full college load, he found his thoughts focused on his family’s safety more while he was away than when he lived under the same roof. “I was worried more about them than I ever was about myself,” he recalls. To keep his mind busy, Malynych immersed himself into D’Youville both in the classroom and outside of it. He got active in clubs and became a student ambassador, representing D’Youville at new student orientations and providing tours for prospective students and their families. “It was important to be involved … that’s just my personality,” he says. “D’Youville has given me a lot of opportunities, and it’s been a place where I could find myself and discover what it’s like to be independent. I’m thankful for that.” In December of 2022 — his first Christmas since leaving Ukraine for the U.S. — Malynych returned to Ukraine and spent a full month with his family, enjoying home-cooked meals, hiking in the mountains, reminiscing with friends and even learning to drive on Lviv’s narrow, cobblestone streets. The day after they celebrated his 18th birthday, his family drove him to the airport to return to Buffalo. He told The Buffalo News a few months later that the goodbye was emotional, but Malynych was grateful. “Of course they miss me,” he said then, “but they know it’s my life at stake, and it’s better for me being here.” AMERYKANSʹKA MRIYA THE AMERICAN DREAM Anastasiia Horova was home alone on the morning of Feb. 24, 2022, her parents out of town when the first distant explosions woke her from her sleep. She recalls being scared, but not surprised. She’d lived with the threat of a Russian invasion for most of her life — the annexation of Crimea in 2014, fighting in Ukraine’s Dobas region and fighting that killed more than 14,000 people in the eight years leading up to that morning. After a few days, Horova was told to head west to Poland to meet up with her family. At just 16, she took a train to the western part of the country — she recalls the chaos of so many people (mainly women and children) trying to flee at once. “When I arrived in western Ukraine, I had to find a way to cross the border, but the lines were miles and miles long,” she says. “You couldn’t just drive up there, so I walked for like five hours. I crossed the border by foot, and after, my friends and family picked me up in Poland.” Horova and her family made it to Germany, where her sister lives, and like other teens her age, once they found a safe haven, her thoughts turned to finishing school and finding a college. She learned about D’Youville’s scholarship offer from one of her teachers, and she jumped at the opportunity to study abroad — away from the war. Her expectations of campus life in the U.S. were shaped by what she saw on television or in movies. This “American dream” excited her, but the idea of going so far away for four years by herself — at just 16 — was equally frightening. “I’d never lived anywhere alone. So it wasn’t just moving to another country … it was doing all of this while learning a new language, transitioning from high school to college-level courses and having to learn how to make new friends and just survive,” she recalls. “I knew it would be very hard.” Horova chose to study nursing at D’Youville, a hands-on program that leans heavily into simulation labs and getting students real-life experience before they graduate. She finished her clinicals in the fall, and she spent her final spring semester preparing for her licensure exam. “D’Youville has given me a lot of opportunities, and it’s been a place where I could find myself and discover what it’s like to be independent. I’m thankful for that.” YAROSLAV MALYNYCH Senior Chemistry major, D’Youville University
