Girl on the Move from Syria

Abstract

Growing up in Aleppo, Syria, for the first twenty years of my life, I listened to my grandparents’ stories of their experiences and their survival of the Armenian Genocide (1915 to 1916) alongside the stories of my parents growing up as refugees in Syria. Approaching the 100th anniversary of the Genocide when I was 18, I did not ever expect to relive the suffering and challenges faced by my grandparents and parents let alone end up with the status of refugee. At the time of my graduation from high school, the war hit Syria. Everything that had been beautiful was annihilated or destroyed and happiness turned into profound suffering. In front of me was evidence of the terrible experiences that I had heard about only in the stories of my parents and grandparents. In addition to this, I saw my opportunity and my right to higher education vanish.