“When I was a baby I came very close to dying.”

“We saw on the television that other countries in the region were having political problems, but they always seemed to fix themselves.”

“Sometimes I sit by myself and I blame myself for leaving Syria.”

“Fevers are very dangerous for him because of his condition. One night he got a fever and there was nothing I could do.”

“My parents were supportive of my education, but they didn’t direct me.”

“I was the only doctor in the area, so when ISIS captured our town, I knew that they would ask me to work for them.”

“I had a very brilliant teacher in elementary school. She was my role model.”

“When I was in second grade, our school got attacked by a bomb. It was a barrel full of explosions.”

“He cried a lot as a baby. By the age of two he wasn’t speaking or eating.”

“I was an only child, but I had eleven children. I built a whole family.”

“I was studying Literature and French Philosophy when the war came.”