This was as much their day as it was hers.

Sure, Khatira Rustami put in those late nights studying for Advanced Placement courses. She figured out how to fill out college financial aid forms. She became the vice president of the Student Government Association and the Muslim Student Association. She earned straight A’s.

But her parents had given up their language, their culture and their extended families to bring her here. If they’d stayed in Afghanistan, she wouldn’t have received an education. She wouldn’t be going to George Washington University this fall on a full scholarship. She couldn’t dream of becoming a diplomat.

And she certainly would not be valedictorian.

So on this May afternoon, as she walked the graduation stage, she wanted her parents to truly understand what they had made possible.

She was surrounded by teens with similar stories. Every student at her Prince George’s County high school is an immigrant or the child of immigrants. It was a small senior class — less than 100 students — and they knew each other’s stories as well as their own.

This story continues. Read the rest at The Banner.