Michael Smith*

My name is Michael.* I am from Afghanistan, and I am the firstborn child of my family. Being the firstborn child especially the son always brings a lot of responsibilities. To fulfill my responsibilities, After graduating from high school, I started working as an English instructor alongside my father. I had planned to study English Literature and pursue my bachelor's degree abroad to be able to help the students back in my native country. Unfortunately, I could not achieve this goal due to financial difficulties. However, I found my talent in teaching and instructing other students. I got my first official job as an English instructor at Marefat High School in 2016 in Kabul. Then in 2018, I got my second job at Kateb University in the English Department. After the takeover of Kabul by the Taliban on August 15, 2021, it became very challenging to work as an English instructor. Being part of the Hazara minority group also made it more difficult to survive.

We faced many dangers. Our manager was shot in his right foot in Pol-e-Sokhta, Kabul. After this accident, we found the situation hard to tolerate. However, teaching was the only source for seven members of the family. My father had lost his job and my sister could not work anymore under the Taliban’s rule, so I had to keep going. My colleagues and I started online classes to be safe and also to help Afghan women join the classes and continue their education. Finally, the English department of Kateb University launched its online classes in Afghanistan. And I was one of the instructors who tirelessly worked hard to make it succeed. Hopefully, it is a great achievement. I have helped numerous students in learning academic English in online and in-person classes. In addition, I started monitoring online classes of the department on October 22, 2021. All the organizations were about to go bankrupt, especially the online classes of Kateb. The principals of the university offered me the position of manager of online English classes and I succeeded in rebuilding it. I received the position during an extremely tough period when most Afghans—and every woman and girl—lost the opportunity to learn the English language. I gave them many tips to encourage them to learn and build their lives. However, I still had some responsibility towards my sisters who lost the right to education. Education is always a priority to our family, so as a family we had to find a way for my sisters to study. After a lot of struggles, my two younger sisters—Jasmine* and Faith*—and I made it to Islamabad, Pakistan.

We came to Pakistan for a better future. Now I am trying to apply to U.S. universities. I wish life gives me a chance to fulfill higher education as I never had the opportunity in my country. Life is also very difficult for all Afghan refugees in Pakistan. Despite the difficulties here in Islamabad, we are managing. The worst thing about a Pakistan visa is that we have to leave Pakistan every two months and then they will allow us to stay another two months.

In the past years of my life, I had many successes and failures. Going through these challenges and successes has taught me a lot of lessons. One lesson is that I should never give up because it is never too late. I believe in myself and know that one day I can start my bachelor’s degree and then later my master’s degree and Ph.D. I do everything to support my family and help them to live better lives.