Humanity First - Read this story on Magzter.com

Humanity First

Rye Magazine|Issue 60

Humanity First

- Elizabeth Titus

As I listened to Donald J. Trump’s “America First” inaugural speech on NPR, I was struck by a conversation I had had with my Afghan daughter before she departed for a semester in Rome the day before the inauguration. A junior on scholarship at a prestigious liberal arts college in New England, Sabira is doing what most juniors do, going abroad. Keenly aware of how fortunate she is, she left for JFK International Airport in a state of disbelief that

this was actually happening. An economics major and Arabic minor, she does nothing but study and earn money as a Residential Advisor, and the result is that she made the Dean’s List for the fall semester.

I should clarify: she is not actually my daughter, as she has loving parents back home in Kabul. I am her legal guardian, and have been for five years, while she is studying in the U.S. Close friends were so taken with her that they are sponsoring her younger sister, Zohra, who goes to boarding school in Connecticut. Other friends in our circle are now making plans to bring her younger brother here, provided the boarding school is as generous with him as they have been with his sister. It seems likely, given the way this family impresses people. A third sister, Nahida, is in the U.S. through a non-profit devoted to educating Afghan girls, and this past Christmas, all three sisters slept in one queen bed at my home in Connecticut. The head of Zohra’s boarding school said that she is an example of sheer determination and hard work for the other students, many of them international. She got all As the past semester, despite the language challenges. And Nahida placed for her Oregon boarding school in a national science competition.

Denne historien er fra Issue 60-utgaven av Rye Magazine.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Allerede abonnent ? Logg på

Denne historien er fra Issue 60-utgaven av Rye Magazine.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Allerede abonnent? Logg på

FLERE HISTORIER FRA RYE MAGAZINESe alt

Rye Magazine

What Becomes A Landmark Most?

I AM KNEELING in damp grass marveling at an anachronism in the world of Ubers and Waze: a sandstone marker about two feet high, handcarved with an old fashioned “24 M…” and missing its remaining “iles to New York.” It is mortared into a long wall and looks out on US 1 like some Knight Templar of American history. In the 1800s, this is how you might have found “the old Jay place” in Rye. Even with its inscription fragmented, it conjures visions of mail carriers on horseback, with dirt-streaked, buckled shoes wedged into stirrups looking for a familiar guidepost to tell them the distance to their secret assignation or a good beer down the road.

10 mins |

Issue 61

Rye Magazine

The Case For Taking A Gap Year

ACADEMIC BURNOUT is a growing issue for students across the U.S. Far from being “the best years of our lives,” most will recount that high school was like living on a conveyor belt of SAT tests, extracurriculars, and self-doubts while under extreme pressure to rack up achievements that might help you to stand out from the crowd. Students graduate with a sigh of relief, hopefully anticipating a future full of opportunities, only to be body-slammed by another four years of even more intense academic pressure. Some students roll with the punches and learn to juggle essays and schedules and “adulting,” but a growing number are being leftbehind.

6 mins |

Issue 61