Ibrahim 1

Fadumo Ibrahim
Professor Marie Lo
Racial & Social Justice
22 May 2016
Intellectual Autobiography
My name is Fadumo and I am 19 years old. I was born in Somalia, but due to the
civil war in Somalia we had to leave. Leaving my home country was extremely hard for
my parents. This is because it was where they were born and raised. They also had to
leave some friends and families behind so that their children's lives were not in danger.
My family decided to take us to Egypt where I was raised since I was at a young age.
Living there most of my life made me think I was actually Egyptian like all other native
Egyptian. But when I grew up I realized that was not the truth, I realized I was from
Somali. I realized no matter how much you live in a country and grow up their you are
always native to your own country. At first this was angering to realize because it was
hard to claim a country when the only thing left from that country was war. Then when I
had to accept the truth I was actually happy because I was representing my heritage of
my parents and I was representing the country. This made me excited because I had
responsibility of representing my country and I was proud to do so.
Experiences that I went through throughout my life are what shaped and helped
me better understand myself. They are where my personal core beliefs come from.
Being around my family, friends, and anyone who helped me throughout my life is what

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got me to where I am today. Three things that are valuable to me is my family, my
religion, and my education. My family have assisted me in many ways whether it has
been financially or personally. They have made sure I have everything and anything I
was in need of. My religion is my top priority because it strengthens me and teaches me
to be a better person. It has guided me throughout my life and still guides me. My
religion tops everything else because I do everything based on my religion. I try my best
to do anything so I am following thoroughly with my religion. I always try to follow the
footsteps of the prophet and use his words as my guidance through my life. Education is
always something that is important for my family and me. Due to the fact that my
parents did not get that opportunity that I have now. They did their best to provide me
and my siblings the opportunity. Due to the civil war that broke out in my country my
parents did not fulfill their dreams of finishing school and having a good career. As I was
growing up I saw the struggles they went through so they could provide necessities for
us. This is the reason why I have a good education and want to continue with my
education to make their dreams come true and mine.

Since Egypt is a Muslim country I never felt discriminated against my religion.

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religion and tell her or call her things like go back to your country or terrorist. This really
upset her because she was born here in the United States and was a citizen and being
told to go back to her country she felt as if her rights as an American were taken away
from her. This also upset me because they wouldn't understand that it is for religious
reasons that we wear the hijab, instead they would just assume things because they
were ignorant about Islam. I did as much I could to educate them about Islam and why
we wear the hijab because of modesty, but some of them just wanted to see my hair
still. In class some of the kids would try to pull off my hijab, but they would not succeed.
They would always attempt to pull it off, until one time one of the girls did it, all the
students in the my class saw my hair. They were all actually surprised because they
couldn't believe that I did have hair, they were looking at each like what and telling their
other friends I saw Fadumos hair she has hair. After school I went home and did not
tell my mom that my hijab got pulled off because I did not want her to worry about me. I
just kept to myself not telling anybody. I was also discriminated against because of my
skin color. There was this kid named Hugh who would always tease me and calls me
chocolate or negro in Spanish. I would try to just avoid him and act like I did not hear
him. Although I tried to ignore him he saw this as a way to discriminate against me even
further. When I finished middle school then I started high school, I did not face a lot of
this discrimination because in my high school there were lot of Muslims, so students
accepted us.
Im multilingual I speak Somali, Arabic, and English. Knowing such a variety of
languages has allowed me to experience all three cultures and has given me a very

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unique perspective on life. Speaking multiple languages has also been a blessing
because I was able to communicate better and help other as much as I can. I always
enjoyed to help others and volunteer in every possible way so speaking morhelped me
find many volunteer opportunities.
I have six sisters with no brother, and I am the second oldest. Being the second
oldest kid was fun yet stressful. I got to have so many sisters and they helped when I
was in need of help. For example, when we do our homework we would help each
other, if I did not understand a word in English we would try to explain to each other until
we all got it. Being the oldest was fun because I had my sisters look up to me and have
me as a role model. At the same time, it was also stressful because I had to think of
every little move so I don't influence them in a bad way. As one of oldest sister you have
to look over your little sisters and take more responsibility of them.
I went to school in Egypt from kindergarten to middle school, then I came to
United States. My family decide to came to United States so we can have better
opportunities that will benefit us in the future. I came to US in May,12, 2010 , with my
mom and my sisters, Farhia, Marian, Habiba, and Fartun. I was inexpiable excited to
come to the United States. I heard so many thing about America like the opportunities
you get and the freedom. I was so excited to learn about another culture and learn
another language. My dad and my little sister Rhama which was at that time only one
years old, could not make it with us because there was some problems to do with
immigration office. They ended up going to Netherlands. After my mom went through
immigration process crying and suffering, asking for them to bring my dad and my sister.

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They finally accepted to bring my dad , but not my little sister. My mom insisted that they
will not bring my dad unless my sister comes with him. They finally came in 2012, it was
one of our happiest times ever. After a long wait they have finally arrived. Seeing the
look of my mom eyes the feeling of joyful and excitement was what made me grateful. I
was happy to see my family once again united as one. I was also excited to know what
was in store for us for the future.
I started from middle school 8th grade in a school called brown middle school. I
known coming to the United States was a great choice for me because I have the
chance for many access to higher education. I struggled a lot getting used to the school
system in America. Due to the fact that I did not speak English it was a really hard for
me to learn it. On top of that I had to adjust to a new environment that I am not used to.
It was really stressful for me at that time of the period, I felt lost and did not know where
to start from. Imagine being in my case and trying to learn something when you do not
even know what others were saying. This was difficult for me, and I couldnt handle it
nor could my family. I remember when we first came to the United States we lived in my
mothers friend house for five days. After that we moved to our apartment where we did
not know anyone there. Everyday we would wake up we would be looking at each other
not knowing what to do in the middle of nowhere. We did not even have TV, we were
really bored. Also if we want to go outside and buy some groceries, we wouldn't be able
to do that because all the stores were really far. We needed a car, so we waited for my
mom friend to take us. Half of our time we would be spend it inside our apartment not
even going out taking a walk because my mom would say we would get lost. My sisters

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and I would always tell our mom lets go back to Egypt I dont like it here and my
mother would tell us don't worry kids you guys will get used to living here like everyone
else.
In my first day at school I was excited to see how the schools in the United
States if it is different from my school in Egypt. I found that most of the things were
different such as, no uniforms and it was more diverse. In my school in Egypt there was
not diverse people there was only me and another girl from Somalia in my classroom. In
addition, the class were also different in the United States you would go to your
teachers classroom, where in Egypt schools the teachers came to our class. In Egypt
you would bring your own food from home, but here in the US we have cafeteria's that
have food for free if you are low income. What I like about American schools is the
lockers, I love it. In Egypt schools we did not have them everyday I would have to take
my books because in Egypt you take each subject's everyday. Compare to here you
take subjects every other day and did not have to carry your textbooks around.
Furthermore, I think the schools here were really different, but at the end I got used to it.
The classes were hard because you need to know English to understand the materials.
I had a class called ESL which is for people who English is not their first language, but
their second language. This class was a good support for me because it helped me with
reading , writing, and speaking English. Not only that, but also it assisted me in my other
classes. My teachers were really helpful, they would make me copies of the
assignments in Arabic, so I can understand them. In addition, I also went to the after
school club. By going there it helped me with homework that I could not understand.

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Additionally, the homework club helped me because I stayed at the library reading
books until my bus comes.
Furthermore, step by step I was able to face all these challenges and overcome
them. After going to high school for 4 years I finally graduated on June 6, 2015 it was
the best moments of my life. I was really proud that I finally accomplished this goal
because I did not think I would do it. Knowing most of the people that immigrated from
other countries, drop high school for many reasons such as, hard time learning English
or just helping their family so they started working.
First of all, education is really important for me and my family. Since neither of my
parents went to college because there was conflicts of civil war in my country. They
have give me every support they can so, I can presuit higher education. My mother and
father motivated me until this day to never give up and allow myself to succeed. They
made sure we had as much opportunity for education as possible. They struggled so we
have all opportunities we can have and they made sure we use those opportunities to
its fullest. Thanks to them we were able to put forward our best and pursuit and work
toward our dreams. I am extremely thankful for my parents because thanks to their
support and effort toward my education I was able to head off to college and do my best
in school.
To begin with, my religion is what guided me throughout my life. My religion is the
most important thing in my life. When I am in need of things I would turn to my religion
for help. My religion is one of the most important thing in my life that shaped to be who I
am today. one example of this is my behaviors. My parents raised me by the teaching

Ibrahim 8
of the Quran, our holy book. They followed teaching of the Quran and taught me to
respect my elders and forgive the younger. When ever I am in public I make sure that I
am always respecting and helping my elders. I make sure I am not badmouthing or
talking back to them. This because in the Quran tells us to respect our elders because
they are our leader and have more experiences than us.
Another example is my modesty. Some people question why I wear layers in the
summer or why I am always covered up and don't show skin. I always try to explain to
them that it is my religion. We as Muslims we are grown up to cover up so we are not
getting too much attention for our body but for our intelligence and behavior. We are
thought to not use our body for attention but our beliefs and personality. Therefore we
cover up our body so we are not judged based on our looks and body but us as a hole.
In the end my religion, family, education, and struggles shaped me to be who I am
today. My religion has shaped me because it is a source to why I act the way I do. My
family also shaped me because they supported me throughout my life and got me to
where I am today. My education played a big part of my life because it was a way for
me to pursuit my dreams and shaped so I am always motivated to do better. Then my
struggles made me who I am because I got to learn from my mistakes and helped me
be a stronger person because it gave me confidence since I was capable to overcome
one obstacle I can overcome another. In conclusion my core beliefs and ideas come
from my religion, family, struggles, and education.