Sixty-First Commencement
Class of 2026
Diana Vavrovska
Fine Arts major
In 2022, Diana Vavrovska was 17 years old and sitting on the floor of her apartment basement in Dnipro, Ukraine, sheltering from rockets while her city was being bombed. "At that moment, my only thought was not about which university to choose, but simply about waking up the next day," she said.
Less than a year later, she was standing in a New York airport, as she described, “without English, relatives or connections, but with shining eyes,” ready to start over. This spring, she will graduate from Kingsborough Community College with an associate degree in fine arts, a perfect 4.0 GPA, a spot on the Dean's List every semester, a Fine Arts Award and a President's Award for Distinguished Scholarship.
Diana grew up in Dnipro, a large city in eastern Ukraine. New York had been her dream since she was about 10 years old. The war put that dream on hold, but not for long. In 2023, she arrived in Brooklyn and made her way to Kingsborough's admissions office, where Rudolf Muradov, the only Russian-speaking staff member in the office at the time, helped her submit her application.
She had initially planned to study engineering. But once she arrived at KCC, something shifted. "I realized that I first wanted to discover and develop myself as an artist," she said.
Diana says she has felt the pull towards art since she was four years old — copying paintings by famous artists, drawing on walls and building miniature houses out of shoeboxes. "At Kingsborough, I realized that these were not merely childhood antics but something far greater, something I wanted to build my life around," she said.
Her first day of class captured just how steep the learning curve would be. Heading to Drawing 1 on a Monday morning, she was asked to share her pronouns during introductions. With limited English, she didn't understand the question and began spelling out her name instead, thinking they had asked about pronunciation.
She credits Professor Matthew Mahler for the grace he showed in that moment. "He did not laugh at me but simply moved on and allowed me to keep my dignity," she said. "Thanks to him and to all of my art professors, I was able not only to develop new skills and master new techniques, but also to discover myself through art and begin finding my own unique style."
One of Diana's biggest personal challenges at KCC was her fear of speaking in front of others. She calls it her "blushing complex." (A colleague had good-naturedly nicknamed her “Tomato.”) That changed, in part, because of her work-study position in the admissions office, where her supervisor, Velma Barton, regularly pushed her to lead campus tours in English and Russian."Thanks to her, I was able to improve both my English and my communication skills," Diana said.
She also credits staff members Gavin, Rubina, Lisa, Susan, Felicia, Mary and Wenddy for the support and patience they showed her. "Working in the Kingsborough admissions office brought me not only invaluable experience, but also a little family, something I so desperately needed in such a new place for me," she said.
Outside of work-study, Diana served as secretary of the Ukrainian Club, where she helped organize volunteer and community activities. She also participated in exhibitions at the Kingsborough Art Museum multiple times, including this past spring semester. "At Kingsborough, I blossomed not only as an artist but also as an individual," she said.
Her advice to incoming international students is straightforward: "Don't be ashamed of your accent. Nobody really cares."
After graduation, Diana plans to earn a bachelor's degree in fine arts and then a master's in architecture. Her long-term goal is to open an art studio. "I want to open my own art studio for both children and adults, where people of all ages and backgrounds can grow, develop, and express themselves through art," she said.
When she is not studying, she dances, another passion she has held since she was four.
For Diana, Kingsborough turned out to be far more than a steppingstone. "Kingsborough Community College gave me more than just a piece of paper certifying my associate degree," she said. "It left a profound mark on my life, giving me friends, love, and support exactly when I needed them most."