Fifteen months ago, Alina Beskrovna was huddled with her mother and 30 other Ukrainians in a pitch-black basement in Mariupol, as Russian shells rained down and buildings around them collapsed in flames. I didn't know whether she was alive or dead.
Shortly before the Russian invasion, Beskrovna had been my fearless interpreter and appointment fixer when I reported from the port city. An IT specialist with an MBA from Lehigh University, she never imagined the horrors that lay ahead.
Yet this month, against all odds, after an odyssey that required incredible guts and smarts, Beskrovna is preparing to start a two-year program at Harvard's prestigious Kennedy School to obtain a master's degree in international development. She dreamed of attending this program because of its rigorous focus on economic data and practical skills — expertise she wants to use to help rebuild Ukraine after the war ends.
