As I write this article it is now day 576 of the War in Ukraine.
There is a morbid fascination, almost romanticized in American culture, about war in a far-off country. I assumed within this interview I would gain a better understanding of the tragedy of the Ukraine war. The war, however, is a less defining feature in Dariia’s life and personality. I was captivated by her passion for soccer and music drawn in by her laughter as opposed to her shift in tonality when referring to the war.
Dariia Konashuk, a current sophomore, is originally from Holovne, Ukraine, and came to America at the start of the 2022 school year. She has built a community here in Durham similar to the connections she made in Ukraine. Approachable and spirited in the way she presents herself followed her from Ukraine and allowed her to make instant connections.
The first time I met Dariia was through soccer. She was directed up to Riccardi’s room where the team was watching film. Everyone’s head turned as she confidently announced, “Girls Soccer?” At the time of the question Dariia said she had only been speaking English for a few weeks. Soccer was the first thing Dariia became involved in at Oyster River, and when I asked about her experiences playing soccer in Ukraine, Dariia’s response gave me straight up goosebumps.
“I really liked soccer, but we didn’t have a team. So one year I decided that I really wanted a team, and I went to every class and asked some girls. Do you want to play soccer? How are you doing, do you want to play soccer? They said no and I said, I know you do. I wrote a list of girls and friends to the coach. He was just a teacher who played soccer. I said, ‘I have girls who want to play soccer.’ But we didn’t have a good soccer field, so we played futsal (indoor soccer) . . . It was okay for girls in Ukraine to play soccer, but it wasn’t as much as here in America.”
Dariia could only pull the group of girls together for one year. I was curious how she became so talented without ever playing on a rec or school team. When asked, she responded, “I played with boys. I really wanted to play but I didn’t have the opportunity. Because I’m a girl they said it’s not a sport for a girl, just do dancing.” When I asked her what she told them in response, she said,“I told everyone that I don’t care and I’m going to play soccer, it’s not a boy’s world, we are equal boys and girls, and I can do whatever I want.”
There are few moments in life where I feel a mic drop is appropriate. That line took the cake. A few minutes after I had this thought, her strength striking me in the gut, Dariia pulled out a video of her shredding ‘Bad Guy’ by Billie Eilish on the accordion. Back in Ukraine Dariia took 14 classes, consisting of literature, Ukrainian literature, world history, Ukrainian history, geometry, physics, and chemistry all within the same day. Not to mention she would hop on a bus to get to music school from 6-8. The life she built here is just as busy.
A huge part of what defines Dariia is her ability to effortlessly form close relationships with everyone around her. Dariia’s distinct personality pulls people in. Her friend Neely Roy (‘26) claimed, “she wore socks to the beach. She would not take those socks off. She eventually took them off to go in the water.” After knowing Dariia, that story checks out. Dariia is certainly captivating, and it continuously surprises, setting her apart from others. But her background in the Ukraine war has added tragedy to her story. Although it has does not overtake who Dariia is at her core, not acknowledging it would be like leaving out a chapter.
When I finally asked Dariia about the war I saw a window shut in her. She didn’t shy away from telling me her story but rather told it in a way that emphasized it was just one moment in her life. She told her story as follows,
“I remember this day. It was a bad day because my mom came to my room, and she was crying. It was like 5 or 6 am and she said, ‘you’re not going to school today.’ I said ‘yay’ because I didn’t do any of my homework because I was hanging out with my friends.” In true Dariia fashion her initial reaction was lighthearted. When she told me this part of her story, she humanized those moments in a way that reflected her bubbly nature.
Her voice shifted back to a more serious tonality when telling the rest of her story, describing the events very placidly from there on. “When my mom came into my room, she said that it was starting. I didn’t understand how I was living life and war. One month before people were talking a lot that it was coming, but nobody believed it.” The same day the war started I went to live with Martin Zlotosch’s (‘26) great grandparents. We were friends with them for a long time and when the war started, they said we could come to their house to stay safe.” The Konashuk family stayed in Poland for 1 month but decided to go back home after the initial shock of war settled.
Dariia recalled the moment arriving back home stating, “when I went back people became very different. Before, the town was alive every single day. It was so beautiful and happy. They didn’t have a lot of money, but they were happy. But after the war it was hard to talk with people. Some of them just cried every day when the war started. For the first week when the war started, the people who lived in Ukraine, they didn’t sleep at all. Maybe one or two hours because they were so nervous. I used to live very close to Belarus and they [Russians] could get to us and it was very dangerous. . .In the village, life stopped for six months. After six months people started to live again for the first time.”
After describing the war that brought her here, she said this, “I’m only one student here from Ukraine. And when you live in a different country you have a different experience.”
The war brought Dariia here, but it doesn’t define who she is. It does speak for her character. every person that I interviewed – whether it be directly or indirectly – called Dariia, outgoing, passionate, sweet, and enthusiastic. After hearing Dariia’s story, it’s easy to add resilient.
Ukraine is often associated with sunflowers. They are a symbol of peace and resilience planted after Chernobyl in the devastated areas. The flowers are heliotropic, meaning they always follow the sun. Dariia carries that light with her every day.
-Maeve Hickok
Images Courtest of Lily Fitzgerald and Dariia Konashuk
Mouth of the River 
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