The Strength within Yourself
Instead of a novel, Brianda Alcazar would sneak her geometry book into her room at night and wait till her parents were in bed so she could turn on the […]
Category: Student
Counting on Math and Soccer
Mussa doesn’t remember much from the night his father was killed. From where he stood in his crib he could hear men’s voices in the room next door,
A Heart in the Right Place
Ever since grade school, Abel Getachew has known what he wanted to do with his life—heart surgery for those in need. “When I was in elementary school,
Reprogrammed Like a Cell Phone
Amidst the thick darkness of a city just before sunrise on the day he arrived in Portland, Abdulelah Aldabea imagined his brain was an iPhone restoring to
Determination Born in a Refugee Camp
After generations of peaceful living in the mountainous country of Bhutan, the family of Nabin Dhimal was abruptly forced to flee in 1989, when the Bhutan government
Fighting for a Better Life
Life in calm Clackamas, Oregon, where Hamada Haaji Chamada lives with his family is very different from the war-torn city of Mogadishu, Somalia,
A Resilient Daughter of the Arab Spring
When Rama Yousef was born in the Syrian capital of Damascus in 1999, her father cursed and cried tears of frustration. She was his fourth child and not the son […]
Broken Glass to Breakout Senior
In 2013, when a bomb exploded and shattered all the windows of 15-year-old Sara Mohamed’s classroom in Damascus, Syria, she better understood
I am Here, and I am Not Sorry
“I will never be seen as an American. I don’t even know what being an American looks like. Is it being lighter? Is it having my hair out? Or is […]
Undocumented and Unafraid
When Efrain first sauntered into his AP literature class in high school, something triggered him: He noticed that he was the only student of color in the room.
Leaving Cuba for a Brighter Future
In 2011 at 16, when Ruben left the bright, sunny and festive Santiago de Cuba for an unfamiliar life in Portland, Oregon it was bittersweet.
In Limbo O’Er the Land of the Free
Depressed and undocumented, Jhoana knew she needed to change her life around. Born in Pachuca, Mexico in 1991, Jhoana grew up in a small house that her
Feminist Blooms Under the Headscarf
For Hanin, wearing a hijab and being a feminist go hand-in-hand. The 18-year-old Forest Grove college student, born in Saudi Arabia, has lived in the United States
Capitalizing on Opportunities
Daadir took his first steps on American soil just three years ago, at the age of fourteen. “A lot of immigrants that come to America suffered hardship,” he reflected. “That […]
Crossing the Line in the Sand
Ivan was eleven years old when his family left Mexico. He had been doing well in his school in Mexico and he was very popular because of his loud voice […]