Hengame Abassi is going back to college.

She is non-traditional student: a student at the end of her 60s. Originally from Iran, Abassi was a nurse and reporter who had to flee political persecution while pregnant and lived in Germany for over 20 years before immigrating to the United States. She has hosted Iranian TV and radio shows in the U.S. and is currently a senior at CSUN, double majoring in linguistics and journalism.

In “Going Back to College,” Hengame talks to other non-traditional students like herself.

Going Back to College with Hengame Abassi

In the first episode of “Going Back to College with Hengame Abassi,’’ Hengame talked to fellow Iranian American and classically-trained musician and multi-instrumentalist, Edris Foroughi.

Foroughi is currently a graduate student in the vocal arts program at CSUN’s music department and is the president of CSUN Iranian Student Association.

Foroughi, 35, went back to college because he did not pursue his passion for his first bachelor’s degree. He got a degree in accounting in Iran, as he thought a career in music would not be accepted in his home country. 

Even after immigrating to the United States in 2014 and deciding to follow his musical dreams, Foroughi hesitated at first and enrolled in the computer engineering program, but dropped three weeks later.

Ep. 1 -  Musician Edris Foroughi

In the second episode of “Going Back to College with Hengame Abassi,’’ Hengame talks to James Hutton, a multi-talented 65-year-old veteran currently in the screenwriting undergraduate program at CSUN.

Hutton joined the workforce right after high school, worked many jobs — including aircraft mechanic for the military — and raised his son after his divorce.

Ten years ago, he took an Spanish class at a local community college and really enjoyed being back at school. Hutton, who is also a musician, decided to take up filmmaking after observing the making of one of his music videos. 

Hutton and his son, who goes to Cal State LA, are set to graduate together next spring.

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Hengame Abassi is going back to college. She is non-traditional student: a student at the end of her 60s. Originally from Iran, Abassi was a nurse and reporter who had to flee political persecution while pregnant and lived in Germany for over 20 years before immigrating to the United States. She has hosted Iranian TV and radio shows in the U.S. and is currently a senior at CSUN, double majoring in linguistics and journalism. In “Going Back to College,” Hengame talks to other non-traditional students like herself.

Ep. 2: Filmmaker and musician James Hutton

In the third episode of “Going Back to College with Hengame Abassi,’’ Hengame talks to Fariba Novin, an extremely resourceful and resilient 56-year-old Iranian American in the interior design program at CSUN.

Novin immigrated to several countries before the U.S. and speaks multiple languages.

Her immigrant story begins at 14, when her father — afraid of the upcoming 1979 Iranian Revolution — sent her to live with her sister in England. Novin’s sister moved to the U.S. six months later and Novin had to be by herself. She finished her General Certificate of Education Ordinary Levels (comparable to high school diploma) and moved to Germany before she turned 18.

There, she enrolled in a vocational program where she immersed herself in the culture and could speak German after six months. Novin later returned home to Iran for 20 years before moving to the United States in 2007.

Novin says immigration has played an important role in her academic life. It has allowed her the opportunity to start fresh and go after career dreams she put aside earlier in life and that her culture would not allow a woman at her age to pursue.

At 46, she enrolled at a local community college. The initial reason she went to college was to learn about the community. According to Novin, going to college is the best way to learn the language and culture of the place you live in. At first she felt the younger students looked down on her but by the end of the semester they were best friends.

She enjoyed the college experience so much she decided to transfer to CSUN to pursue her dream of becoming an architect. After she completes her undergraduate program, Novin hopes to enroll in an architecture graduate program.

Ep. 3: Interior designer student Fariba Novin

In the fourth episode of “Going Back to College with Hengame Abassi,’’ Hengame talks to Nico Grierson, a 46-year old musician in the music education program at CSUN, who is also a French-English interpreter and yoga teacher.

It has taken Grierson a long time to pursue her degree in music.

Even though she played music as a child, Grierson did not know what she wanted to do when she was in high school and felt out of place.

Grierson’s parents are Canadians, so she always identified more with her Canuck side and was friends with international students, so she spent a year in a foreign exchange program in France.

When she returned to the U.S., Grierson experienced reverse culture shock and wanted to go back to Europe, so she dropped out of CSUN before the start of her sophomore year in 1993.

Grierson was worried about coming back to CSUN. She initially felt maybe they would not take her back but soon found the university to be a safe place for her to be reintegrated into academic life and to explore her talents.

She credits the professors with her academic success because of how accommodating they have been. Grierson was having problems with organization and the steep learning curve of going back to college later in life, so her professors suggested she visited the Disability Resources and Educational Center where she got tested and discovered she was on the Autism spectrum. She has received help from the center even since.

Grierson plans to apply for a master’s degree in library and information science at UCLA so she can become a music librarian.

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Hengame Abassi is going back to college. She is a non-traditional student: a student at the end of her 60s. Originally from Iran, Abassi was a nurse and reporter who had to flee political persecution while pregnant and lived in Germany for over 20 years before immigrating to the United States. She has hosted Iranian TV and radio shows in the U.S. and is currently a senior at CSUN, double majoring in linguistics and journalism. In “Going Back to College,” Hengame talks to other non-traditional students like herself.

Ep. 4: Musician Nico Grierson

In this season’s fifth and final episode of “Going Back to College with Hengame Abassi,’’ Hengame talks to Persian Jafari, a 52-year-old retired journalist originally from Iran.

Jafari started her work as an international journalist in 1993 and had the opportunity to work with all major networks through Worldwide Television News, now known as Associated Press Television News. The highlight of her career was covering the United Nations’ special session in 2000, “Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development, and Peace for the 21st Century,” in which most world leaders were present and committed to addressing women’s rights issues in the new millennium.

Jafari has gone back to college, including James Madison University near Washington, D.C.,  multiple times. She says everytime she goes back she realizes there is still so much more she could learn. For that reason, she has changed her major several times: from biology, to journalism and business. She intends to use the business knowledge she gains from CSUN to manage her nonprofit organization, which has a solution journalism approach.

Ep. 5: Journalist Persian Jafari

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Going Back to College with Hengame Abassi

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