Reintroducing Myself to the World
As the first semester of my sophomore year of high school came to an end, I stared into my bathroom mirror, and a speck of doubt began to devour every thought I had about who I was. A fog swallowed my mind, and I realized I couldn’t recognize my reflection. Or maybe, I thought, the […]
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In Four, Hold Seven, Out Eight
As I stood in front of my 9th grade math classmates, I wished to be anywhere else. My teacher had cold-called on me to answer the question on the board. As I stood there my heart pounded, and it was so hard to breathe that it felt like a mountain had fallen on top of […]
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Adapting to Have a Better Future
As an unaccompanied refugee minor, I’ve faced many challenges in pursuing my education, but the support of my foster families, agency, and friends has helped me along the way. For me, being a successful woman in the world means having a family of my own and working as a social worker or mental health counselor. […]
Read MoreI Had to Leave
It was November 2019, an ash-gray morning. The car smelled like gas. I was in a new school for 7th grade, and my mom was driving me there. Neither of us had eaten anything. I could tell she was stressed and angry. Suddenly she was shouting at me. I can’t remember why, but I remember […]
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