My journey to USA

Life has a strange way of surprising us with stories we never expect. My story started when I was approved for a scholarship that allowed me to spend five glorious weeks in USA with people of different cultures.
Hereinafter and throughout the five weeks, Muhammed, the talented Iraqi writer, was always the source of happiness among us. No one could imagine that his bright soul and his warm smile hid lots of sadness behind. Keeping strength and hope while everything is ruining around is a difficult ability to be found in any human, but it is not for Muhammed. He started with a smile telling us about his sad stories during the Iraqi conflict between Sunni and Shiites.
I was touched the most with a particular story of him. It happened when he was on his way to school. He did not face any trouble due to the rush hour; neither cars nor buses were blocking his way. However, scores of dead bodies were lying on the streets and cannibal dogs were ripping them apart. The scene freaked him out and then he ran insanely towards his school. This was only the beginning of his nightmare that started to unfold before his eyes. The terrible chain of events continued. As he arrived at his school with his friend, they discovered that one of their teachers was murdered. He fainted because of the shock and by the time he regained his consciousness at the hospital he was informed that his beloved friend was murdered, too.
This absence of security reminded me of the beginning the war that Gaza suffered in 2008-2009. I still remember that horrible day when I was at the door of my school going back to my home. It all started with something which seemed like an earthquake with thousands of people running and screaming around me. I felt terrified, I was in panic! It wasn’t all because of the bombs that were falling everywhere randomly but also because I lost my sister in that utter chaos and confusion. Then I finally arrived home, it was such a relief to find all my family members were safe. Muhammed’s experience inspired me to keep smiling despite the hardships of life. He taught me, even when death is howling at the doorstep, not to lose hope and faith. I wonder how difficult is it to realize we all are the same! Why can’t all of us treat others in terms of humanity? Yet among all the madness that goes around the world, we will find people like Muhammed who can hold themselves steady and spread hope among others in search for a brighter day.