The Other Side of the Sky

Ahmedi is finally able to go to school. She was apprehensive about entering the large American high school, but when the big day finally came, she had no American classmates at all. Her classmates were entirely ESL students from many different countries. When she would walk the hallways, all the American students ignored her. At first, it felt good to be anonymous. School was plenty challenging, however, since Ahmedi had never learned to read and write in her native language, much less in English, and she had only formal math training up to the second grade. Through her life experience, she had picked up addition and subtraction, as well as basic multiplication and division.

Ahmedi progressed quickly during her first year and made it to pre-algebra toward the end of the year. She continued in summer school after the school year ended, where she had to take algebra because it was the only summer math class on offer. She struggled mightily, but stuck it out, ultimately failing the class and retaking it during the school year. Much of what she was learning provoked comparisons and reflections on her background in Afghanistan. She made connections between the myths people in Pakistan spread about Afghans being brought to America to become slaves and the actual history of slavery in the US. When she learned that America was built by refugees (and their enslaved Africans), Ahmedi marveled at how far it had come. On the other hand, she wondered why Afghanistan, which was a comparatively ancient civilization, had fallen so far behind. She observed that in America, people have ambition and want to work hard; they raise their voices and express their beliefs. By contrast, in Afghanistan, everybody is afraid and nobody dares raise their voice.