Under the constant threat of military violence, a Ukrainian exchange student left her home in Lviv to pursue higher education at The University of Southern Mississippi. But even as she builds a new life in Hattiesburg, the sounds of war remain heavy on her mind.

Viktoriia Lavrentiv, and all of Ukraine, was abruptly awoken by the beginning of war following Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. She rose to the sound of strange noises and went cautiously to the window. It was there that the sound of sirens confirmed a threat Ukrainian civilians had long feared.

“I didn’t know what to do,” said Lavrentiv. “So I started looking for information. I wanted to have as much information as possible before waking up my parents. To calm them down, I knew my mom was going to panic. A lot.”

Even after confirming that the war had begun, she found herself questioning whether it was real. It was her senior year, and she was supposed to be at tutoring that morning for her final exams.

“Should I go to my tutor?” she thought. “Standardized test is very important, right?”

“I was scared,” she said. “I was really scared. I didn’t know what to expect.”

As the sirens rang, Lavrentiv searched for the nearest shelters. Over the next few months, as attacks intensified, she learned how to protect herself and her family, navigating when and where to take cover and identifying safe zones in case of rocket or drone strikes.

“You never know when there is going to be an air raid alert,” said Lavrentiv. “You have to go to shelter immediately. The first few months we were going to shelters every few seconds almost.”

During one attack, the sirens weren’t loud enough to wake her or her family. Neighbors began banging on metal objects to alert the building of an incoming strike. Jolted awake by the sharp clanging, Lavrentiv knew she had to move quickly.

“When I hear something similar, I have this trigger,” she said. “I feel like I need to get to a shelter when I hear it.”

As her family rushed to the parking garage beneath their building, a rocket flew past and struck a nearby structure, shaking the walls around them.

“You can hear and feel the shaking of buildings and the panic of people from miles away when these raids occur,” said Lavrentiv. “Our neighbors tried to be friendly. We made a community out of it. We even connected to the parking garage WiFi to see the news.”

Her younger brother was just four years old when the war began and two when the COVID-19 pandemic first struck.

“He hasn’t seen any other life, normal life,” Lavrentiv said. “When he was 4, he asked when the war was going to stop. We still celebrate holidays, but there’s been a fireworks ban since the war began. He has never heard fireworks, only rockets and strikes around him.”

After finishing secondary school, Lavrentiv stayed in Lviv for a gap year while deciding where to study next.

“I just wanted to study abroad. I never planned to study in Ukraine,” she said. “I thought about Poland first, but I would have had to pay a lot. The same with the United Kingdom. They offered no scholarship. I wanted to challenge myself. Plus, I find the teachers in America to be more invested not just in me academically, but as a person as well. There tends to be a hierarchy when it comes to education in Ukraine. It is important to know, though, that I had some really great professors in high school who set me up for success when it came time for college.”

Lavrentiv was accepted to Southern Miss in spring 2023 and began classes that fall as a computer science major. Because Ukraine’s airspace has been closed since 2022, she first had to travel by bus to Poland before flying to the United States, a journey of nearly two days.

Now a junior, Lavrentiv has embraced life at Southern Miss. She has found support in classmates and professors who value her perspective and curiosity.

“Being able to study in America right now means the chance to grow beyond the limits I thought were set for me,” she said. “To me, Southern Miss is more than just a university. It’s a community of people willing to support each other in every new beginning. It’s the environment that challenges me and inspires me to achieve more.”

Beyond the classroom, Lavrentiv continues to pursue her love of travel. In spring 2024, she completed the university’s Château Program in Strasbourg, France, where she studied French language and European history. This fall, she took a trip to New York City during the university’s fall break, another chance to experience the world she once thought unreachable.

Lavrentiv says she has found comfort in the cultural diversity and friendship on campus. She stays connected to home through family calls and news updates, but her focus remains on building a future that reflects both resilience and hope.

Her dream is to work in a role that allows her to travel the world, carrying with her both the memory of home and the strength she has found in new beginnings