When Kateryna Shkil moved to the United States from Ukraine in 2021, she didn’t expect her new life in California to become permanent. Her family had planned to stay just long enough for her to finish ninth grade. Then, everything changed when Russia launched its attack against Ukraine.
“In February of 2022, the full-scale invasion started, and we’re like, okay, we’re staying here,” Kateryna explained. “The war was not the reason we moved, but it is the reason why we’re staying.”
Graduating this year from Oak Park High School, Kateryna has weathered cultural upheaval, a language barrier, and the ever-present anxiety over the war back home while navigating the pressures of high school in a new country.
The transition wasn’t easy. “I’m quite an introverted person,” she admitted. Her first break came thanks to a classmate who showed her around the school and welcomed her into her group of friends. Even as she perfected her English, she found her American classmates harder to read than the kids shew grew up with. “Back in Ukraine, if you don’t like someone, they know about it and you let them know quite directly,” she said.
Despite these challenges, Kateryna immersed herself in her new school, singing in two choirs, including a jazz choir that performed at local festivals, and participating in clubs like fashion and GeoGuessr. “I wish I had joined earlier, that’s for sure,” she said of choir. “It gives you a community and it’s fun.”
Kateryna’s perspective on the war in Ukraine is deeply personal. She has relatives still in the Kyiv region and recalls the fear during the early days of the invasion: “There have been tanks in Kyiv. We have family under the blockade and could not even contact them.” With no end to the fighting in sight, the news from Ukraine is a constant source of trauma. “You see the photos… the kids are being killed, the adults are being killed. It’s just horrifying.”
Now that high school is behind her, Kateryna will be studying business administration at Moorpark College, with plans to transfer to USC. She’s planning to explore various career paths during college, including one you may not have expected – working in the funeral home industry. “It’s a very stable job,” she said. “I know it might be a bit of a psychological weight.”
While she hopes to visit her native Ukraine in the future, she can’t see herself moving back. Over the past four years, she’s adapted to her new home, particularly Southern California’s famously pleasant weather. “I cannot stand snow. I’m sorry, I do not like it,” she said.
Despite all she’s endured, Kateryna remains grounded, hopeful and ready to write the next chapter of her life after high school in her new home.