Main Essay: In Syria, my Kurdish identity was controversial to the Arab government that had banned our language from being taught and spoken. The only way I could go to college was by signing a paper that would force me to identify as Arab and abandon my ethnic Kurdish roots. Even then, my family could barely afford our old apartment in Aleppo, much less be able to pay for textbooks and tuition. Education beyond high school was a distant dream but back then, the last thing we expected was for the Arab Spring to reach Syria and transform every aspect of life we knew it. The war broke out gradually. It started as a few protests that turned violent. Whispers in the school hallways about the teenagers that were tortured by the government. Teachers ignored our questions, knowing there would be consequences if they said something wrong. Soon, it escalated to hiding behind staircases when an airplane flew overhead and sighing in relief when the building didn’t come crashing down. I spent my nights pretending to sleep while listening to the TV in the other room and my days engaging in secret conversations with kids in the neighborhood about what we’d overheard our parents say. That terrorist groups were gaining power; Al-nusra, Hezbollah, and Daesh. And within a few months, a phone call in the middle of the night informed my dad that his brother had been captured by ISIS. They knew where we lived. Not waiting until the next day, we scrambled to pack up everything we needed, got on the bus, and crossed the border to Lebanon. Three days later, another phone call in the middle of the night informed us that our apartment had been bombed. We spent that winter in Lebanon, living in refugee camps where our only source of security came from the blankets and food distributed by UN workers. After two years of enduring these conditions, my mom was told that our application to the UNHCR had been approved for immigration. While entirely safer than Syria and Lebanon, the US provided its unique hardships. Not only did missing two years of school put me far behind my classmates, but my lack of understanding of English created yet another barrier for my education. But remembering the sacrifices my parents had made to bring me here, I made it my personal goal to learn as much English as my brain could retain in as little time as possible. And I did. So much that as of today, I’m taking honors and AP classes and on track to graduate high school a year early. Through my experiences and the stories I’ve heard while volunteering at the Cleveland Hope Center for Refugees, I decided that I want to spend the rest of my life helping people access the same opportunity that I was lucky enough to encounter. Now that I’ve been admitted to New York University, this goal seems even more within reach. I would study International Relations and land an internship at the UN headquarters, where I one day hope to work. But despite the financial aid offered by the university, I know that my parents’ below poverty income combined with the income that I will earn by working a part-time job could never cover the high cost of tuition of college in the U.S. Rita's First-Gen Scholarship would open a path in my life that I currently cannot take due to financial hardships. Given this opportunity, I will use the money offered to cover tuition at NYU and help me reach my goals. Short Answer: (1) Getting a college education would mean breaking the generational cycle of poverty and minimum-wage jobs. In addition, it will allow me to cultivate my mind and go into a career at the United Nations that reflects my values and goals. Lastly, it will allow me to repay my parents who left everyone they knew and cared about to accompany me to a foreign land that they knew nothing about. By obtaining a college education, I will prove to them that their sacrifices have paid off. (2) Outside of school, a typical day in my life consists of volunteering at the Cleveland Hope Center for Refugees and Immigrants where I help those who are in the same position that I was in six years ago learn English and find a supportive community in the area. In addition, I sometimes also volunteer at the local elementary school where I tutor young children and help them with their homework. After volunteering, I usually come home to do my own homework and prepare for school the next day. In my free time, I especially enjoy reading and learning new languages. I am currently learning my fourth language, French, which I hope to become fluent in before finishing college. (3) I feed my curiosity by exploring and engaging in subjects that pique my interest. For example, as part of my school’s newspaper team, I write about topics ranging from national politics to local issues that I want to bring attention to. In addition, I participate in the student council where I can influence decisions made at my high school and represent the general student body.