Help me see my mother this summer
Donation protected
Hi there,
If you have ever talked to me once, or have read my blog posts then you probably know that I have been away from my motherland, family and friends for a while: four years by now. I probably have talked to you about mom, and dad in some capacity.
I departed Afghanistan in 2012 to attend St.George's school in Newport, RI as a 10th grader on a full scholarship. I returned to Afghanistan for the summer of 2014 and the trip was paid by my school.(forever grateful of SG). Upon graduating from St. George's school, I started my college at Hobart and William Smith Colleges as part of class of 2019.
At HWS, I major in Biochemistry, minor in Health Professions. I have been a Residential Assistant, tour guide, member of NASA RockSat-C aerospace research program, parts of Leadership Certificate Program, received the Cohen Fellowship from Centennial Center in summer of 2017, was a recipient of Guaranteed Paid Internship from the Career Services Office, have babysat countless hours and somehow managed to survive my junior year without a meal plan which forced me to cook for myself.
I have ran many half marathons, a marathon, a 50-miler and am currently in the process of training for my second 50-miler race in September. I have been fortunate to find various platform to talk about importance of educating women, empowering women through sport. I am an ambassador for Free to Run organization and am involved with 261 Fearless Organization. Recently, I won an award by Glamour Magazine, which named me one of the "Top Ten College Women of The Year" for 2018. ( I am in the print version of the Glamour Magazine for June edition).
I interned at the Admission Office of HWS colleges over the summer of 2016, then interned at the Biophysics Department of University of Michigan over the summer of 2017, and am currently interning at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center with Dr. John Harmon in Baltimore.
Despite all these activities that I have been blessed to be part of, I have always felt the empty spaces of my parents, especially my mom, in the past four years. I have resisted going to my motherland, Afghanistan, for the past four years for many various reasons. The fear of not getting visa back to the States to be able to finish what I have started is one of the many whys. Also, my sister and I are the very few women who have left our hometowns for the sake of getting education. Therefore, there are a lot misconceptions about what we do here in the US. It is very hard for me to discuss/write how we are viewed as in my hometown therefore I will not further dwell on that reason.
However, I have decided that I need to go home for the month of August after my internship. I have thought, cried , and wished to be with my parents to the extent that it has affected my well-being both mentally and physically. I often find myself writing about my mother, holding her photo, and breaking down any time I see a mother and her daughter.
It has been one long, and difficult process to come to this conclusion. I have looked into tickets and I have realized that I am not able to pay for them alone. I need your help with my tickets and travel to my hometown, Kunduz.
My mentor has told me about her "Coni Fund" idea. Coni is willing to help an individual as long as the individual promises to help another person in need in the future. I am absolutely a huge fan of her idea and I promise to help another individual when I earn salary and am out of college.
I have estimated the tickets to Kabul, Afghanistan from San Antonio and from Kabul to Rochester, New York is about $ 2,400. As of right now, I have $ 400 that I plan to use when I am in Afghanistan.
In return to your contribution, I promise to give back to your community in any capacity that I can. We can brainstorm and figure some events out. I would be willing to talk to your community members about my experiences if that’s helpful, or would be willing to talk to any of your student, friend, daughter or sister who is interested in being a STEM student in College. I will also send you a signed copy of the Glamour magazine.
Thank you for your contribution. I appreciate your support in any capacity for making this trip happen.
If you have ever talked to me once, or have read my blog posts then you probably know that I have been away from my motherland, family and friends for a while: four years by now. I probably have talked to you about mom, and dad in some capacity.
I departed Afghanistan in 2012 to attend St.George's school in Newport, RI as a 10th grader on a full scholarship. I returned to Afghanistan for the summer of 2014 and the trip was paid by my school.(forever grateful of SG). Upon graduating from St. George's school, I started my college at Hobart and William Smith Colleges as part of class of 2019.
At HWS, I major in Biochemistry, minor in Health Professions. I have been a Residential Assistant, tour guide, member of NASA RockSat-C aerospace research program, parts of Leadership Certificate Program, received the Cohen Fellowship from Centennial Center in summer of 2017, was a recipient of Guaranteed Paid Internship from the Career Services Office, have babysat countless hours and somehow managed to survive my junior year without a meal plan which forced me to cook for myself.
I have ran many half marathons, a marathon, a 50-miler and am currently in the process of training for my second 50-miler race in September. I have been fortunate to find various platform to talk about importance of educating women, empowering women through sport. I am an ambassador for Free to Run organization and am involved with 261 Fearless Organization. Recently, I won an award by Glamour Magazine, which named me one of the "Top Ten College Women of The Year" for 2018. ( I am in the print version of the Glamour Magazine for June edition).
I interned at the Admission Office of HWS colleges over the summer of 2016, then interned at the Biophysics Department of University of Michigan over the summer of 2017, and am currently interning at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center with Dr. John Harmon in Baltimore.
Despite all these activities that I have been blessed to be part of, I have always felt the empty spaces of my parents, especially my mom, in the past four years. I have resisted going to my motherland, Afghanistan, for the past four years for many various reasons. The fear of not getting visa back to the States to be able to finish what I have started is one of the many whys. Also, my sister and I are the very few women who have left our hometowns for the sake of getting education. Therefore, there are a lot misconceptions about what we do here in the US. It is very hard for me to discuss/write how we are viewed as in my hometown therefore I will not further dwell on that reason.
However, I have decided that I need to go home for the month of August after my internship. I have thought, cried , and wished to be with my parents to the extent that it has affected my well-being both mentally and physically. I often find myself writing about my mother, holding her photo, and breaking down any time I see a mother and her daughter.
It has been one long, and difficult process to come to this conclusion. I have looked into tickets and I have realized that I am not able to pay for them alone. I need your help with my tickets and travel to my hometown, Kunduz.
My mentor has told me about her "Coni Fund" idea. Coni is willing to help an individual as long as the individual promises to help another person in need in the future. I am absolutely a huge fan of her idea and I promise to help another individual when I earn salary and am out of college.
I have estimated the tickets to Kabul, Afghanistan from San Antonio and from Kabul to Rochester, New York is about $ 2,400. As of right now, I have $ 400 that I plan to use when I am in Afghanistan.
In return to your contribution, I promise to give back to your community in any capacity that I can. We can brainstorm and figure some events out. I would be willing to talk to your community members about my experiences if that’s helpful, or would be willing to talk to any of your student, friend, daughter or sister who is interested in being a STEM student in College. I will also send you a signed copy of the Glamour magazine.
Thank you for your contribution. I appreciate your support in any capacity for making this trip happen.
Organizer
Zahra Arabzada
Organizer
Geneva, NY