Meet John Ben Snow Memorial Trust Fellow Jawadshah Kasimi

By Jawad Kasimi

I am Jawad Kasimi, and my life journey began on 11th July of 2002 in Karachi, Pakistan. My parents are from Kabul, Afghanistan, but they moved to Pakistan before I was born due to bad conditions in Afghanistan. They were hoping to provide a better life for me and my siblings by finding a new safe place to call home. After moving to Pakistan, they realized that Pakistan was not much different from Afghanistan, so they decided to return to Kabul to renew their passport and migrate to Iran. We lived in Iran for around six months. Iran’s immigration policies didn’t favor our stay, so we decided to depart to Turkey, where I spent most of my childhood. 

Turkey was a crucial part of my life, because I believe I became the person I am from my experiences there. I started attending school, playing soccer, and overcoming obstacles in life. Most importantly, I started to develop a sense of belonging to somewhere. Settling into a place for a long period of time, six years, after moving from one country to another helped me to call somewhere home.

Life was never perfect for me. I moved from city to city in Turkey, and my parents decided to divorce, which affected my life a lot. Living in  poverty was hard. It was hard to focus on getting a good education when you couldn’t eat a good meal or were always stressing about finding a meal. I had to see my mom struggling to bring food home for me and my siblings by working two or three shifts a day, but her hard work was an inspiration to me shaped me to be the person who I am today. My mom was my hero. She still is today. She helps me push myself when I am struggling with school or not feeling well in general. 

After spending six years of my life in Turkey, we moved to the United States. When we landed in New York City, it was magical because I had never lived in a developed country. As much as I liked the States, there were also downsides. I moved from country to country throughout my whole life, but settling into a place for such a long time then moving was really unpleasant. I had to learn a new language, English, while focusing on learning other subjects based on that language. It was also very hard to adapt to the changes. I had no friends when I started school and I had nobody to play soccer, my favorite game, with.

Just like every challenge I faced throughout my life, I overcame these challenges as well. I became proficient in English and graduated high school with an honors diploma. I also found many friends and best friends. I adapted to the States. I now know how to play American football and lacrosse. However, I still continue to play my favorite game of all time, soccer. 

Currently, I am a freshman attending Le Moyne College in hopes of getting a Bachelor’s degree  in business management with a minor in entrepreneurship. I am also an intern for Inkululeko.