Hi all, I want to tell you all about myself since some of you have asked. I’m 11 years old, and I’ve been writing for about two months now. I want to thank Mr. Selber for two things, providing us the US visas to travel to the US and now sponsoring my writings at Grumpy Combat Veteran + Friends. This is a great opportunity for me!
Without any further due, here is my story:
I was born on April 21, 2013, in Kabul, Afghanistan. I have brown eyes and long brown hair. I have five siblings, and when I was about six years old, I got a baby brother! When I was a baby, I was so tiny that my uncles would always check on me to see if I was still breathing. My dad said I was the size of one of his hands! Isn’t that crazy?
Growing up in Kabul, my siblings and I would watch lots of cartoons and movies. Most of the cartoons were in English, but one of our favorite TV channels translated them into Farsi for us. My absolute favorite cartoons were “Miraculous Ladybug” and “SpongeBob”. They are still around, but now they are only in English, and guess what? I know English now, and watching them in English gives me more joy!
I’ve had so many favorite colors over the years. First, I loved orange because it was bright and happy; then, we were in Afghanistan, had our own house, my father had a great job in the government, and we had everything we wanted. When we moved to the US, I started to like pink because it was so pretty and gave me the joy of coming to a new country, embracing a new culture, and learning a new language.
Then the Taliban took over Afghanistan, and we realized we could not go back to our country; therefore, I changed my color to blue because it reminded me of the beautiful sky in Kabul. But now I have switched my favorite color, black, because it reminds me of the nighttime when we can see all the beautiful stars. Nights are the times when I speak to God, of course, God of all Abrahamic religions, and pray to him that he frees our country one more time so we can go back!
My favorite movie is “Jawan,” an Indian movie that’s full of excitement and adventure. And my favorite food? My mom’s spaghetti! It tastes so good with a little bit of yogurt—not the sweet kind, but a kind that’s a bit sour and a bit sweet at the same time. Yum! My favorite book is “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” by Jeff Kinney. It’s a graphic novel with 18 different books in the series, and I love every single one of them.
When we moved to the US in 2021, I didn’t speak a word of English. Coming from a poor family, I never imagined that one day I would write and have big dreams. America, the land of dreams, has allowed me to dream big and write for a better world and future. One of my biggest dreams is to become the first Afghan-American astronaut. I want to be a role model for Afghan girls and show them that anything is possible.
Enough about me; I have a more interesting story to come: My sister, Taiba, is starting a nonprofit to support Afghan girls. She plans to showcase their beautiful handicrafts in the US through events, conferences, charity, and other cool stuff. Stay tuned for more updates on that!
I hope this answers your questions about me. Thank you for reading my story!
