UF occupational therapy professor Sherrilene Classen became an American citizen in May, 15 years after moving to the U.S. from her native South Africa.
Link to article: http://news.health.ufl.edu/Post/ThePost9_2008.pdf (see page 23)
Published: September 2008, The Post, University of Florida
By Melissa M. Thompson
UF assistant professor earns her stars and stripes after 15 years
Driving on the wrong side of the road — or learning to drive an American car, in five days, period — was hard enough to get used to, but then Sherrilene Classen, Ph. D., M.P.H., O.T.R., learned the truth about Smarties candies. They weren’t chocolate.
Three months after arriving in the United States, Classen, a native of South Africa, confessed to a friend she was craving the sweet treat. Expecting to find the familiar M&M-like candy sold in her home country, Classen almost gagged when the pastel spheres of pure sugar assaulted her tastebuds.
“My American friend got very excited, telling me that she could find (Smarties) for me right away,” said Classen, an assistant professor of occupational therapy in the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions who was recruited to practice occupational therapy in the U.S. in 1993.
“She presented me with these nasty little clumps of sugar. They were totally awful.”
Fifteen years later, Classen has adjusted to life in the country she now calls home and was sworn in as a U.S. citizen during a ceremony in May. But the road to American life wasn’t as sweet as it seems.
Classen was born in Bloemfontein, the capital of South Africa’s Free State province, where she learned to care for herself at a young age. Her father died when she was 6, forcing her mother to work three jobs and leaving Classen to raise her brother and sister.
“I remember talking about (my siblings) as ‘the children’ even though my brother is only a year younger than me and my sister five years,” she said. “That was my normal I never look back at it as a bad thing, instead I have learned life lessons such as you never get deterred, and you never give up.”
At 14, she was hired as a hairdresser’s weekend receptionist. She hasn’t stopped working since, financing her way through college at the University of the Orange Free State, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in occupational therapy. While working as an occupational therapist in South Africa, she received shiny pamphlets adorned with American flags and promising opportunity, education and security. This was enough to lure Classen away from her family and friends in search of a better, more adventurous life.
Today, Classen is excited to participate in activities many Americans take for granted — such as voting in the 2008 presidential election. As she thinks about casting her vote for the first time in November, she can’t help but remember her family in South Africa, where violence and crime are tearing communities apart.
“Few are excited about life in South Africa or hopeful about the country’s future,” she said. “But here, the stuff that excites me is just normal stuff for Americans. How powerful is it to read the Declaration of Independence and really understand those words? Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In many developing countries, including South Africa, those are just empty words or wishful thinking.”
