From loss of hope for her future, to fleeing the country of Afghanistan, freshman Habiba Hashimi never thought she would be where she is today.

Since she fled Afghanistan alongside her family her life has drastically changed for the better. She was gifted with an immense amount of opportunities she could have never imagined she would ever be able to experience back in a place she once called home.

“It was hard coming here from Afghanistan. I had just turned 13 right before I moved here, and now I’m 15 so it’s been 2 years since. We weren’t supposed to be able to get out of there, but we were lucky that during that time my dad was working for the U.S. army for 17 years, so we had an advantage,” Hashimi said.

In many cases some families fleeing from Afghanistan have family they had to leave behind. She’s thankful that her entire family was able to get out safely.

“My family and I were very lucky that none of us were left behind. We all got to America safely,” Hashimi said.

The culture and the rights that Hashimi has been able to experience here since she’s moved is nothing like what it was like living in Afghanistan.

“The girls in Afghanistan are not aloud to go to school or anything,” Hashimi said. Once the Taliban came that’s when the banned school for every girl in secondary or high school. School for girls was only around for girls who were in primary school,” Hashimi said.

“Once I was no longer able to go to school, all I could do was stay home. My brothers were able to go to school, and that made me feel sad because I wanted to be like them and go to school and learn,” Hashimi said.

During the struggles of not being able to go to school, the living experiences as a whole didn’t get any better for those like her living in Afghanistan.

“It was hard for people to get jobs and make money. Especially for those who were working for the U.S. army, the Taliban was searching for them. For my family, since they were searching for us, every 2-3 years we had to change our location. But for my dad, he had to move every 2-3 days since he was the one actually working to the army,” Habiba said.

Since fleeing the country, Habiba has felt much more free living here in America and has since experienced many things she never thought she’d be able to have.

“The biggest one is school, I’m now able to go to school. In Afghanistan we had to cover our faces, and hands. And if you’re a girl that’s older than 14 or 15 you weren’t even aloud to go outside,” Hashimi said.

“Now that I’m here, I feel more free, I’m able to show my face and hands when I go outside, and before that it was hard for people to remember what each other looked like,” Habiba said.

There’s many creative things Habiba is able to experience now that she’s living here, many of which she was never able to do while living in Afghanistan.

“I’m now able to sing and learn to play instruments like the drums. I was never able to do that before. In my country we don’t even have a singing class at school. I’m also able to exercise in school. In Afghanistan we could play sports at school, we didn’t have a gym class,” Habiba said.

Alongside Habiba, her family is now able to experience the same opportunities she has, as well as being able to provide for their family without suffering.

“My mom is, and dad are taking English classes, they’re still learning. My parents are doing good. Everyone is able to go out and do the things that want to do, like work and go to school,” Habiba said.

Habiba feels much more peaceful that she knows her family is able to provide for her family and they now have more freedoms. And that Habiba is able to plan for her future.

‘In Afghanistan they have crazy laws so i was scared, I didn’t know what was going to happen but now that I’m here I feel more peaceful, I’m able to learn new things, and new cultures,” Habiba said”

“When I was living in Afghanistan I had no clue what I wanted to do for my future. I thought there was no point because I wouldn’t be able to anything anyways. But now that I live here I actually have dreams and goals. I want to be dentist when I’m older. I’m very grateful that I’m here and I’m able to have an education, as a girl and for all the opportunities that my family and I now have,” Habiba said.