When Moha Al Rifaai walks into his Architectural Design Studies classes at Onondaga Community College, he carries more than sketches, software models, and class assignments. He carries a promise to himself, and to a home he hasn’t fully known since childhood.
Moha was born in Syria. His family left in 2011 as the war escalated, first moving to Egypt before resettling in the United States on January 19, 2015. He grew up in Syracuse, graduating from PSLA at Fowler in 2023, and began his studies at OCC that fall. Architectural design, he says, felt like the path where his skills and his purpose aligned.
Last summer, Moha visited Syria for the first time in years. What he saw reshaped the way he thought about his future. “Most of the homes were completely destroyed,” he said. “In my mind, I was thinking 'I’m going to get my degree, then go over there and help them rebuild things.'”
The trip also reaffirmed what his life in the U.S. has become. “I do feel this is more than a home for me and my family,” he said. While in Syria, he found himself explaining American life to curious relatives. “During my time there, I was sharing a lot of things with my relatives about the United States. All of them were willing to come here.”
Architectural Design Studies has brought Moha into a world where creativity meets real-world problem-solving. He especially enjoys the collaborative process of working with clients. While working with OCC Architectural Design Professor John H. Giles Jr., he's designing modifications to a house in southern Onondaga County. Seeing his design work become reality has been a powerful experience. “It’s so cool to see something we were working on on a desktop being built. It’s very inspiring.”
Moha has become fluent in Revit, a Building Information Modeling software widely used by architects, engineers, and construction professionals to design and document 3D models of buildings. Learning tools like this have helped him see how ideas become structures, and drawings evolve into reality.
In May, Moha will join two older siblings as OCC Alumni. He plans to head directly into the workforce with a focus on what he enjoys most. “I’m more into designing residential buildings than commercial,” he said. “It feels more personal.”
