Significance in Life by Hally

Significance in Life by Hally - December 2017 Scholarship Essay

As I started high school the war began developing in Syria and it was hard for any student’s family to allow him or her to keep attending school, for they were being put in very dangerous situations. I had always begged my mother to not stop me from going to school. I had found life through school after many devastating situations that were happening to me and around me to close family members. Although my mother allowed to me to keep attending school, I had to change the high school I attend about three times a year. There were situations where the army would come into the school looking for gunmen, disturbing classes with gunfire leaving all the student afraid of the next step they will take. This did not stop me from pursuing the education that was much unlikely to be completed by a female in Syria.
Transportation was also very dangerous in Syria from and to school, as I was in a bus that was flipped over from a nearby bombing. Bodies were laying over one another some dead some severely injured and very few survived with no major injuries. As these situations were occurring, they only seemed as a test for me to keep moving forward and also receive the grades that I knew I was capable of receiving. My mother decided to send me and my younger sister to America to stay safe and my grades were transferred over to my new high school to show a GPA of 3.9. I learned I am blessed to be in a safe environment in America. My mother was not accepted for a U.S. visa which was very heartbreaking for a 12 and 15 year old.
I was and still am taking care of my younger sister. Before the chaos began in Syria, the main social problem was of how women were dehumanized. My grandmother was forced to work in a field of crops owned by her father to help raise enough money for her brothers to receive an education while she had to stop at 6th grade always dreaming to go to school. This culture also carried the belief that women were born to produce more men and were married through arranged marriage at a young age. My grandmother was married at 16 and received great respect because she birthed seven males and three females. My mother was married at 18 and was looked down upon for she had only three females and no males.
A quote that most describes my actions is a quote said by the wise Gloria Allred and it is “I have a duty to win change”. As a survivor of the war and also a Syrian that had the opportunity to live in both Syria and America I would like to use the knowledge I have gained to create change for women.
The disaster in Syria was also a chance for me to find my personality. Over the summer of 2016 I traveled to Syria once more to help all the Syrians I considered as my family. I had stayed with a friend of mine whose both parents were cosmetic surgeons. My stay over in Syria of three months revolved around the hospital. The whole family and I were at the hospital every day of the week to welcome patients with traumatic injuries asking for help. Being allowed to watch over the surgeons, doctors, and anthesiologist made me feel that I have always been blinded to the only place I had felt I fit most in. I have met patients completely devastated with no hope that leave inspired, motivated, and full of love. A truly heartwarming experience that I was very fortunate to be present for.