WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — For Matthew Frantszhuan, music is life.
"I know how to share my emotions, my feelings, and my story with the audience through music," said Frantszhuan, a 17-year-old Ukrainian exchange student attending Valley High School in West Des Moines.
These days, his story is set in two different worlds. One, the life he left in Ukraine.
"All my friends are now spread across the country or even spread across the whole world because they don't want to die in the country, too," he said.
The other life is here, now, with his friends in central Iowa.
"We want to live here in the moment, and I'm still just a student in high school," said Frantszhuan. "I just want to have a real normal life and to participate in all activities that I'm in."
Thursday's vigil in West Des Moines was a chance for him share his story with the dozens of supporters who turned out.
"I knew that she was going to the airport, and I just received news that there is shooting exactly in this airport area," he recalled.
Earlier in the week, the West Des Moines city council had declared March 24, 2022 a Day of Solidarity with Ukraine.
"We need the people of West Des Moines to come together and stand for Ukraine and to let people know that we don't stand for this kind of senseless violence that's going on. We stand for peace and we stand for rights," said West Des Moines mayor Russ Trimble.
The Valley High choir performed a song in Ukrainian called "Prayer for Ukraine." Frantszhuan helped his classmates learn the words.
"When I'm when I'm listening to choir, I'm just like, 'Okay, it really sounds like Ukrainian language. That's amazing.'"
Frantszhuan, meanwhile, is grateful for the support and the life he now has, even as his heart is with his family back home.
"It may be could happen that the last time when I saw them in my life, it was this summer, but I don't want to think about this, because I hope that I will see them again." he said.