Go Free or Die

Mohammad Hamed Shirzad

My story begins in Afghanistan, where I was born in 2003. Growing up in Kabul amidst the backdrop of conflict, I found comfort in the simple joys of childhood, surrounded by family and friends. However the reality of war become all too familiar when a bomb struck my school, leaving scars that would shape my journey. In 2022, faced with the turmoil of my homeland, I made the brave decision to start a new life in the United state. leaving behind everything I knew I embarked on a journey filled with challenges from adapting to a new language and culture to finding my place in foreign land. yet, through it all I discovered the strength of community and the resilience within myself. My story is one of courage persevering belief in a brighter future, and all this thing reminded that every obstacle is an opportunity for growth, and every step forward is a testament to the power of resilience.

My childhood was helped me to be strong now. For some reason, how I am where I came from, how did I grow up, where did I grow up, how was my early years of my life, and how that affected on me who I am today. First, must of the people is not native so they come from different countries. For example, I am from Afghanistan and Afghanistan is a country in the Middle East, and I was born in the capital city of Afghanistan in 2003 the city name was Kabul and after when I was one years old I was so kids that’s why I Don’t Remember Where we moved but my mom was told me we was moved to another city the name of city is Ghazni, and after I graduate from high school I come to USA in 2022 it was a hard decision for me to come here because I came here alone it is hard for me to life alone without my family but I had no choice because in Afghanistan was war between Army and Terrorist on that time. second, every one grow up in the Different area. for Instant, I was grow up in the small city in the Afghanistan with nice weather and it had a lots of trees and flowers in Ghazni city when I was walking in the city the smell of flower was very fantastic and I had a best friend his name is Sajjad we was spending our free time in his house we was playing soccer game. Third, some of the people raised without their parent. for example, I was raised with my mom and my yang brother we was living alone until I was 12 years old and my father was come back my father was in another country for work he was working in that factory I remember one day in that time I was sick and my mom was so worried about me because I needed to go hospital but she couldn’t go with me in the hospital because in that time women was not allowed to go hospital without her husband that was a roles in the state I was grow up. Fourth, the beginning of life is the hardest part of life for someone. for instance, I was not in peace full country because I was born in the war ridden country I feel so much pain because I get some injured in my body in march 21 2015 I was in school and some terrorist person put a Bomb in our class and I was there and I remember it was 10am the Bomb was exploded after that I don’t remember what happened until I woke up from hospital but I lost one of my childhood friends it’s really hard to me to forget that history. Fifth, a lot of thinks might that have effected who you are today. for example, I was played soccer around ten years old I was very good in soccer I had five medal from school soccer time but I did’t like to go school and listen to teacher because I was thinking I am good in soccer not in Themes in our class it was my opinion and I am still the same if I have tow choose between school and soccer I will pick soccer because of that I want to mention this citations to improve my taught. “The formation of personal and group identity is a complex phenomenon, a mixture of psychological, biological, social, cultural, and environmental factors” (Mann, 2016, p. 211).

My social Identity define me in United state of America as Afghan American Refugees who come to United state of America in 2022. As I mentioned before I was born in Afghanistan and I was come to USA in 2022, after my first day when I was left Afghanistan and it was very hard for me to leaving behind my birthplace. However, after I arrived to USA and i got a new experience to live 3 mounts in American army military bases because of the process my refugees documents, and during this period of time I worked volunteer as a barber with all afghan refugees, so it was a good opportunity for me also to practice and get more experience and be success in my job, also now I am a barber and I am working in my position . So I was not alone, I was come with my old brother and 110,000 peoples from Afghanistan after I got my documents and I was come to Settle of Washington with my brother, and the reason why we choose to live in Settle is because, my sister was lived here. and after we come to Settle We was lived with m sester for 10 days and I was looking house for rent in the during time, after couple of days finally we found a house in Bellevue. after that live challenge started. for example, one of the biggest challenge was for me it was my language because, I had no opportunity to learn English language in Afghanistan so when I was come to here and I as shocked, I couldn’t make connection and communicate with other peoples. Also religion is one of my social identity, for instance, I am a Muslim and I was born in the Islamic family I have respect for all religion it’s doesn’t matter who the are everyone in equal, I had religion racism experience in the past and the have effect on me how to thing about racism and we have deficient kind of racism.Such as, “How one’s racial identity is experienced will be mediated by other dimensions of oneself: male or female; young or old; wealthy, middle-class, or poor; gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or heterosexual; able-bodied or with disabilities; Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, or atheist” (Tatum, 1997, p. 33). and my experience was about my religion so the Taliban( tourism) was killed our people because they considered their own interests. However, after all of this experience I get it from when I was born until today as young afghan refugees and now I have this opportunity as a young generation who can speak about his history and write about my story, thought, be freedom and my social identity without any fear from other people.

In summary, my life has been a journey from Afghanistan to the United State,full of challenges and changes that made me who I am today. Growing up in a War torn country, moving to a new place, and facing language and cultural differences have all been tough. but through it all I’ve learned to be strong and embrace my identity as an Afghan American refugee. I’ve faced discrimination and loss but I’ve also found strength and hope in sharing my story . as I continue for this path I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve been given and committed to helping others who’ve faced similar struggles. My journey from Afghanistan to United State of America has taught me to be strong even when things are very hard. I faced tough times but I got stronger now I am hopeful about what comes next I will be ready for that as will.

References

Mann, M. A. (2006). The formation and development of individual and ethnic identity: Insights from psychiatry and psychoanalytic theory. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 66(3), 211-24. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s11231-006-9018-2

Tatum, B. D. (1997). Why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria? Revised edition. Basic Books. https://sbctc-lwtech.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01STATEWA_LWTC/117qsle/cdi_proquest_ebookcentralchapters_5368838_10_96

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Go Free or Die Copyright © 2024 by Mohammad Hamed Shirzad is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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