“I try to text them every day to ask if everything is okay,” said student Olya Hinchak. “My hometown’s airport was bombed in the very beginning. There is still bombing from time to time, but it is a safer part of Ukraine.

In Iowa, the students’ host families began contacting higher education institutions throughout the state to see if anyone was willing to help. “I’m hoping that some college will come up and say ‘We’ve got these kids. Come. We’re going to take care of you,’” said host mom Alli Johnson.

While other schools in the state were sympathetic, it wasn’t until Johnson placed a call to the University of Northern Iowa that she actually received an offer of assistance.

UNI Chief of Staff and Ukrainian native Oksana Grybovych Hafermann, ’08, heard Johnson’s plea. “I need to follow up. I need to find out what exactly is happening, how many students do we have, what are the circumstances and situation. The next step — what do we do?”

Temporary Protective Status was the first item on a long to-do list.

It allows the students to remain in the United States and attend UNI at the price of in-state tuition. The students also qualified for several merit-based scholarships. “These young people are incredibly bright and remarkably resilient,” said Grybovych Hafermann.

In fall 2023, all seven exchange students — along with an eighth student who fled Ukraine with her family when the war began — became freshmen at the University of Northern Iowa. Though the reasons for their presence on the Cedar Falls campus may be sobering, all eight are eternally grateful that fate and good fortune led them to UNI.

“For the first time in a year and a half I feel welcome. It really does feel like a second home,” said Ulyana Karpliuk, majoring in psychology. “I’m very grateful UNI has given me an opportunity to study abroad. It’s always been a dream of mine.”

“People at UNI made me feel welcomed and happy to be here,” said Daria Gramotieieva, majoring in statistics & actuarial science and business analytics. “I got a lot of help from counselors, staff and students. Their impact convinced me that I made the right choice.”

“All the people I have met so far were very nice and easy to get along with,” said Lucya Shapovalova, majoring in marketing: advertising and digital media. “They seem to actually care and want to help me.”

Five of the students spent their first year of college living on the same floor of Bender Hall, where they could often be found conversing in their native tongue. Because of what they’ve been through, all the students share an undeniable bond.

“They are some impressive young people for all they’ve been through, for what their families have been through, for what their country has been through,” said Pete Moris, director of University Relations. “But they’re also very typical college students.”

Odee is now majoring in finance and also considering a major in accounting.“My plans are to stay here for four years.”