Iranian engineer adapts to Arizona life

TEMPE — The hustle and bustle of Arizona State University creates a steady stream of background noise. Students become blurs as they rush to and from classes.

Amidst the buzz of activity, Amir Bonakdar sits on a bench outside the Engineering Research Center, never missing a beat as he describes his life in Iran before he became an international student at ASU.

He’s dressed casually in a light brown polo and cargo pants. Blonde highlights are visible in his dark colored hair. He sports the latest fashion – a fohawk.

Bonakdar is Iranian. Born and raised in the country’s capital, Tehran, he grew up a Shiite Muslim. He left his country two-and-a-half years ago to pursue his doctorate degree in civil engineering, with a specialty in concrete materials, at ASU.

Bonakdar chose ASU because he wanted to study under Professor Barzin Mobasher. But the doctoral program offers other benefits: It’s easier to get a visa if you are going to school for your doctorate, Bonakdar says.

The program also offers shelter from the political and socioeconomic storm raging in his homeland and the American political storm over how to handle Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

He’s set to graduate in 2010, but he’s hoping to stay in the U.S.

“If I can stay here, I would only go back for visiting my family and friends,” Bonakdar says.

His own family is more open-minded to the world today, but the Iranian government is not, he says. Most of his generation is open to change, he adds, especially those in the age bracket of 20 to 25.

“We have been told, but we haven’t been directly exposed to the old ways,” he says.

Bonakdar is trying the “new ways” at ASU. He is involved in the university’s Iranian American Culture Association, but he has found that few members are citizens of Iran. The majority of IACA members are children born to Iranian parents here in the U.S., or their grandparents are from Iran.

Bonakdar has also been exposed to a more modern life here. Although computers, Internet access and television are common items in his home country, a lively press and free speech is not.

In Iran, the airwaves are owned by the Iranian government. Channels are strictly national and are government censored. As a result, Bonakdar says, many people buy satellite dishes to get the other side of the news.

Yet even with all the advances and outside information, some things stay the same.

“Many things have consequences,” Bonakdar says.

One can never speak out against the chief of state, known as the Supreme Leader, or disrespect Islam’s religious law, the Qur’an.

Bonakdar says he doesn’t think people believe in the system anymore. It was something they voted on 30 years ago. There was a time and place for certain laws and regulations, but they may not be applicable in Iran in today’s world, Bonakdar says.

“[Religion] is not a factor in many lives anymore – young people for certain,” he says.

The laws of Islam haven’t changed for 1,400 years. He finds it difficult to accept the oppression of many social and civil rights for women and homosexuals in particular.

He says this is a result of the government’s “misinterpretation” of religious laws.

“This is a huge problem,” Bonakdar says. “It can be fixed with education, but it’s going to take a long, long time. One part of education is free media, and you have that here.”

Bonakdar feels the cultures between Iran and the U.S. are very similar, except for the issue of human rights and civil rights. He says he’s excited to see what will happen in the coming years under the leadership of President-elect Barack Obama because his victory is proof that the country has made several advances on the civil rights issue.

What frustrates Bonakdar about Americans, however, is that they are sometimes too easy going. He would like to see people more aware and engaged in their surroundings.

When asked if he aligns himself with Americans, Bonakdar says, he doesn’t see himself as different from Americans and considers himself a resident. He still loves his country and two flags hang in his bedroom: the flag of his home country and an American flag.

Bonakdar jokingly admits the best thing about ASU is the sunny days. He grins. No, he likes how multi-cultural ASU is. There are many beautiful people, he concludes.

“I’m a more easy going and down-to-earth person than I use to be,” Bonakdar says, crediting his time at ASU for the change. “I can be myself here.”

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