Macon Magazine

August/September 2025 | maconmagazine.com 87 While things are not as bad in Iran as Afghanistan or North Korea, there's something that is diminishing in the life and psyche of Iranians in recent history – hope. Corruption, suppression, sanctions, and so forth have left the people in a growing state of despair. There is not much hope for the future in Iran. That's what motivated me to leave the country in a pursuit of happiness. I was the second son of a single mom. I didn't have a blissful childhood. I don't remember most of it, perhaps intentionally. I grew up fairly poor. Much luckier than my brother, I was able to pursue education and got my bachelor's and master's degrees back in Iran. I worked a few years, then I moved to Denmark and worked there for some time and saved some money, before being lonely in a cold and dark weather started to mess with my mental health – although I made a few great friends there whom I'm still in touch with. Thankfully my cousins, to whom I owe a lot and who have been living in the U.S. for four decades, could help me get a student visa for a Ph.D. program at the University of South Carolina in 2017. That's when I came to the U.S. for the first time. After a semester in Columbia, SC, I decided to change my major and go for a more "techy" path. I'm currently a Senior AI scientist in a software company. I transferred to Kennesaw State University for a second master's and Americans. These folks chose us. They chose this country with all its flaws, with all its foibles." Leaving his home and family in Iran, Shayan Drake tried to build a new life in Denmark. He also wanted to be here. After years of waiting and thousands in attorney fees associated with a sometimes tedious process of obtaining U.S. Citizenship, Shayan was one of the candidates on the front row in the Downtown Macon courtroom who caught my attention on that spring day. I met Shayan and his spouse, Julia, after the ceremony. I could see the depth of the moment in his intent eyes. Julia said, "When he and I first were dating, my mom asked me what it was I loved most about him and I said, 'His eyes!' There's something about them!" "Shayan doesn't give himself enough credit for how hard he has worked through this process. He is an extremely driven and disciplined person," she said. "I feel so proud to have been able to walk this path with him and reach this incredible conclusion together as a family. And to have our son there was just something I can't really put into words." "So now as we move forward as a family, looking back on all we've been through, we're filled with a lot of gratitude and appreciation for all the support we had along the way." On top of this accomplishment, their fifth anniversary is coming up, with Julia adding, "He has worked so hard…He deserves the whole world." I asked Shayan to share more about what led them to that memorable day in Macon on April 9th. SHAYAN DRAKE, IN HIS OWN WORDS FOR HIS FIRST TIME AS A U.S. CITIZEN: I'm Shayan, a 38-year-old man, born in Iran. People tend to pronounce my ex-homeland "I-ran" but it's really more of "E-run" (rhyming with "dawn"). It used to be a cradle of civilization, according to Wikipedia. With that glory gone, it is now more of a graveyard for all the young and brave souls who want basic human rights: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and economic stability, but instead end up being executed by the religious and corrupt regime that's been ruling the country for the past 40 years. Things were not great before that either; suppression, class conflict, and foreign intervention had previously led to the revolution of 1979. Iran has been plagued by foreign powers for centuries, all the way from Islamic conquest, to the Mongols, to Anglo-Soviet invasion. Ironically, Iran hasn't ever been colonized despite all these disruptions. There's something about Iran that makes it shrewdly absorb the language and the culture of the invaders and survive beyond them. "Be open. From my experience, most people, even those whose governments are hostile, do not mean to harm others. They value the same principle and are after a safe and comfortable life, just like you." Judge Self and new citizen are all smiles on the happy day. Photography Susannah Cox Maddux

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