This article was written by Tiba Al Khafaji,

iLearn intern and former iLearn student.

I was living my childhood just like any other girl, but in a different world – a world with racism, Isis, and rocket propelled grenades. As a 7 year old living in Baghdad, I experienced two important happenings In December 2007. A grenade crashed into our house and soon after, my sister was born with a condition called “Cleft lip and cleft palate” – an opening or split in the roof of the mouth and lip. At that time I was desperately waiting for a sister to play and have fun with. But, when I saw my sister for the first time I refused to accept her. I thought she looked like an evil alien. At that point, I was scared for her and scared of her. Her condition became the family’s first priority.

The first months of my sister’s life were full of scheduled surgeries first in Jordan then in Iraq. These were central to our family’s life, I didn’t notice how the whole country of Iraq fell apart around us. My parents kept going to different clinics seeking magic – it turns out that magic doesn’t settle in a place where hope is lost.

In November 2013, we came as refugees to the United States. My parents came with great hopes for my sister – hoping this is where magic lived. But moving from Iraq to the United States was a complete change for myself and my family. We had to forget about the past and seek for blocks that could build our future.

My family and I came to the United States without any knowledge of the language or the culture, and even though my dad was an English translator in Iraq and was familiar with the language, we still faced obstacles. In order to figure things out quickly, my parents started taking English classes with iACT. Our plan was to develop and assimilate into the American culture as fast as possible. While my parents attended classes, my siblings and I attended school.

There was a lot we weren’t familiar with, whether it was the language or the subjects that we were taught. We weren’t familiar with how the American schools function, and we didn’t know how we were supposed to function when we were mostly unfamiliar with everything.

To make a long story short, our first school year was a disaster – we didn’t know what we were doing and the teachers didn’t know what to do with us. I carried a digital translator and a physical dictionary with me at all times. I failed most of the tests I took and got bad grades. I had to deal with people who kept asking me questions like “Why do you wear that thing on your head?”- I wear a hijab-  “Do you shower with that thing on?”, and “Do you sleep with it?”

At that time school did not only make us question ourselves but it also made us question our faith. It made us ask more about our religion so that we had an answer for every question that people might ask us, because answering with “I don’t know” always made us seem ignorant.

However, things like these didn’t stop us from trying to fit in and trying to make friends. But at first we had nobody to talk to at school. Things that were related to school made us feel so uncomfortable and awkward because they made us remember our failed relationships and the unexpected reactions.

We somehow managed to make it through that first school year and when the summer came we attended iACT’s summer youth program. The program, called iLearn,  teaches English as a Second Language and cultural skills to newly-arrived refugee students. This program not only welcomed us, taught us English, and connected us with people like ourselves, but it helped us establish roots in Austin.

I became more comfortable with the city that I live in and with the people that live in the city. iACT taught me, my siblings and my mother (who attended the adult classes) lots of things and gave us opportunities that we weren’t aware of.

Today I’m a student at Crockett high school with a lot of academic achievements. While I was completely lost in middle school, high school was completely different. In high school, I became involved in soccer and in the national honor society. As a junior, I made varsity soccer and as a senior, I became the president of the national honor society. I built a GPA of 3.72, and I  received awards for outstanding achievements.  High school made me feel proud because it made me realize that I’m a person with the ability to achieve and accomplish, something I never felt I could do before.

This summer, as a rising senior , I returned to the same program that established my knowledge and gave me roots. I returned to iACT as a volunteer in the hopes of giving other newly arrived refugee kids the same hand that was given to me when I first came. As a volunteer this summer I not only gained new experiences from working with refugee kids, but I also learned from the uniqueness of each child’s story.  I volunteered for seven weeks this summer not only to teach these kids and learn from them but because it is in giving that we receive.

Today, if I look back at the old me and the current me I see a magnificent change in my personality and in my way of thinking. I have become a better person – a person who does everything for a reason. I transformed from a person with hopes to a person with goals. If there is one thing I learned from coming here is that it’s not about where you came from but it is about where you’re going.