I am an Orthodox Christian Syrian immigrant, I came to the united states in February 2014, and have been living here for 10 years. I came here fleeing from the Syrian civil war especially after it hit my hometown of Sadad, Syria during the "battle of Sadad" in which religious extremists took over our Christian town which is 1 of 2 in Syria. During this killed, raped, kidnapped, and robbed our community. Fearing for our lives, after the conflict ended my mother begged my father (who was currently in the United States working in order to send us to the United States) to send us immediately as it was getting too dangerous. While little kid me got over it by collecting the shells left over by the battle and trading them with other kids like Pokémon cards. The current me has gotten over my time in Syria by constantly proving myself and not ever letting the amazing opportunities offered in America go to waste. I've had to mature much earlier than all of my friends since I had to learn English, and throughout my whole life, I've had to aid my parents with all of their things, like driver's licenses, taxes, insurance, and applying for asylum. This has always frustrated me since instead of learning these life skills from my parents I've had to learn them on my own, unlike many of my peers who had been naturally pushed along their path to independence by their experienced parents. However after a lifetime of struggle and putting in the work, I have finally actualized my dream by getting accepted into UC San Diego in order to study aerospace engineering with a specialization in aerothermodynamics, A dream which if I had stayed in Syria would have never been actualized.

While I don't like letting previous life experiences or beliefs affect my perspective on life, sometimes you don't have a say in it unless you are willing to delude yourself. My full name is Jan Luis Barakat, and I am an orthodox Christian immigrant from Syria. And likely the most adverse point in my life comes from my time living in Sadad, Syria. As one of only 2 Christian towns in Syria, Sadad was often an easy target for religious abuse, however, our strong religious conviction and community made it an amazing place to grow up. That is until the peak of the civil war in Syria, where my town was invaded by religious extremists who killed, kidnapped, and robbed our community. After announcing that our town was now part of Daesh (ISIS) territory and that we should be locked in our homes from now on, unless we converted to Islam, a 3-day battle broke out between the rebels and the Syrian army. During this time many of my neighbors were killed, and almost all property and belongings were either stolen or damaged. (you can learn more about it by just googling "Battle of Sadad".) Soon after my mother begged my father (who was working in the States in order to make enough money to send us there as well) to quickly send us money so we could leave for America as soon as we could. 3 months later I flew around the world to reach the United States. While little kid me got over it by collecting the shells left over by the battle and trading them with other kids like Pokémon cards. The current me has gotten over my time in Syria by constantly proving myself and not ever letting the amazing opportunities offered in America go to waste. I've had to mature much earlier than all of my friends since I had to learn English, and throughout my whole life, I've had to aid my parents with all of their things, like driver's licenses, taxes, insurance, and applying for asylum. This has always frustrated me since instead of learning these life skills from my parents I've had to learn them on my own, unlike many of my peers who had been naturally pushed along their path to independence by their experienced parents. However after a lifetime of struggle and putting in the work, I have finally actualized my dream by getting accepted into UC San Diego in order to study aerospace engineering with a specialization in aerothermodynamics, A dream which if I had stayed in Syria would have never been actualized.