Family In More Ways Than One

Maria Saikali ’24, ’26, has experienced something relatively few people can claim: graduating with her twin sister one year, and then turning around and graduating alongside her mother two years later. 

Saikali, who is also student services coordinator in the Shenandoah University School of Business, earned her Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a concentration in marketing in 2024, while her sister Josephine earned her bachelor’s degree in environmental studies with minors in political science and global studies at the same time. On May 9, she walked across the stage at the James R. Wilkins, Jr. Athletics & Events Center to receive her Master of Business Administration and Graduate Certificate in Digital Marketing in the same ceremony at which her mother, Soha, received her Bachelor of Business Administration degree. 

The family’s path to Shenandoah

One could say that COVID paved the Saikali family’s way to Shenandoah. 

“As a military child, there aren’t many places I can truly call home, especially in the United States,” Maria said. “By the time I graduated high school, I had spent 14 years of my life living in Germany and only four years in the U.S.

“I came to Shenandoah as a transfer student. Before SU, I attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Then COVID hit, and I was forced to move back to the house in Winchester that I didn’t really consider home at the time. Shenandoah University initially felt like just an outlet to study – simply a stepping stone. I didn’t plan on joining sports teams or making many friends, but that quickly changed.”

At Shenandoah, she discovered professors who knew her name and classmates she saw semester after semester. “That was when Shenandoah became attractive to me,” she said. “It was also when I decided to try out for the cheerleading team. School spirit was on another level at SU, and during my time on the team from 2022–2024, I became much more open to the idea of Shenandoah truly being a family.”

Meanwhile, a large portion of her actual family was also on campus with her. However, since she and her sister studied different subjects, they didn’t see each other that much, other than when they ate lunch together or drove to and from campus. Even so, she said she thinks she wouldn’t have joined cheerleading if she hadn’t had her built-in best friend on campus with her. 

Maria Saikali, left, and Soha Saikali, right, graduate from Shenandoah University in 2026: Maria with an MBA, and Soha with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. Shenandoah Executive Director of Global Education Bethany Galipeau-Konate, D.Prof., is pictured in the center.

Studying, and graduating, with a twin and a parent

“Of course, there were challenges too, mostly with scheduling,” she said. “My classes were usually from 8 a.m. to noon, while hers often ran from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Since we shared one car, sometimes I would stay in the library waiting for her, and other times I would go home while she stayed on campus. Occasionally her classes would get canceled, which made things even more complicated. Even with those challenges, I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.” And, graduating alongside her sister, she said, “was an amazing feeling.”

“Being in college with my mom is harder to put into words,” Maria said. “I am incredibly proud of her for accomplishing her dream of finishing college. She put her education on hold to raise my sister and me, and when we were in high school, she started taking online courses again, continuing all the way to now. She worked so hard for this moment.

“I remember one time she came to me asking for help with a class that I had taken before her, and it made me smile knowing she was finally pursuing something she had always wanted to accomplish. Walking alongside her as she earned her BBA while I earned my MBA has inspired me to work harder and become a better version of myself.”

The importance of family, on and off campus

While she said she sometimes thinks about what it would have been like to start her collegiate experience at Shenandoah, things worked out well, regardless. “Through graduating alongside my sister in 2024 and now alongside my mom this year, I realized how important the feeling of family truly is. That sense of connection and support is what makes the Shenandoah experience so special to me.”