BRATTLEBORO — This is not only my greeting, but also the greeting of all the young leaders of my country that I offer to you.
My childhood began with a world of curiosity,
I was very eager to know how the world works. Every night I fell asleep with the book under my pillow.
My school bag was always heavy. My mother used to say, “Did you put a stone or a book in the bag?”
I was 6 years old when I first saw the movie Space; nothing was more interesting to me. I wanted to see if there is life in space, if anyone lives there.
This was the first time that no one could answer my question.
* * *
After a while, my imagination grew, and it became a dream. I wanted to go to school and study as much as possible so that one day I can go to space and find answers to all my questions.
But I did not know of the mistakes of dreaming in my land.
In my country, a girl should not be curious; she should be shy and calm, because curiosity is a crime.
My mother used to tell me the story of the dark days of the Taliban: They kept women at home to control them more easily, all of which kept them in the dark under the name of their government.
But there is still hope.
* * *
In 2017, I heard about the Afghan Girls Robotics Team in my city and took some exams to be accepted.
Early on, my family (except for my mother and father) did not allow me to participate in those classes - so I did so quietly.
Participating in robotics gave me a lot of power, and I learned a lot about technology day by day. It was great.
We worked on many projects and helped women study technology.
In 2019, we went to the First Global Competition in Turkey and were one of the top four teams.
In 2020, with the start of the Coronavirus, our team wanted to help our country, and we started to build robots to help people breathe. But we had to stop.
* * *
With the Taliban, most of our robotics team left Afghanistan, but members of my family did not allow me to do so because they did not think it is right for a girl to travel alone.
Some days later, they found out that the Taliban were looking for my robotics team, and my family was worried that they would kill me. So my parents allowed me to travel.
Finally, the day of saying goodbye came - a day that was very, very hard for me. I did not understand the moment. I was just crying. I could not accept what was happening, and I was just saying, “I wish, God, this was all a dream.”
But over time, I realized that it was true - that I would have to accept that I had to leave my family.
* * *
My mother has always helped me; she has been my role model. My father was the hero of my life. It is very difficult for a child to leave them suddenly without any preparation, and it is very difficult to think about!
Because my father's family was very strict, when the moment to say goodbye had arrived, I left the house without them knowing. This made it impossible for my parents to come with me.
I went to Kabul from Herat because there were no flights out of the country. From Kabul, I traveled alone to Qatar.
Because I arrived in Qatar alone, I could not rejoin the team and had to go to the United States.
The first night after I came to America. we were taken to Brattleboro. I was very, very scared because it was dark everywhere, and I was alone.
This caused me and my roommate, Soheila, not to leave the house for two days. We were afraid to go out and face people because we did not know anyone.
We were in the room for two days and there was nothing to eat. I was so stressed that I had a panic attack and I had to leave the house and go to the hospital.
* * *
Little by little, as I got to know more people, I realized that there was not much to worry about.
I decided to start a new life here, to study what I had in mind.
I came to school and got acquainted with a unique teacher, a kind teacher, Ms. Jen [Course], who tried every way I could to help me understand the lesson. So did Ms. [Erin] Hilow and Ms. [Michele] Hood. They even allowed the use of a dictionary.
A world of thank you to all of them.
I understood a lot, but most of the time I could not study like the other students because English was not my main language. Teachers gave me time, and this made me study and continue.
I met some girls like Sophia, a very kind person, a girl whose smile motivated me to study hard. I'm very happy. Sylvania, a very polite and calm girl, helped me with any problems I had and explained the lessons to me.
Thanks to Greta for always noticing me and being friendly at lunchtime.
A world of thanks to all the people that help me in this semester. I hope you have a good summer. Good luck.