Hello everyone, my name is Ibrahim Alghouthani, I am originally from Syria and I was born there in 2009. I did not attend school there because I was too young for school. A war started in 2012, I was 3 years old back then. It was too dangerous for my family to stay in Syria, so my family and I moved to Jordan the same year the war started which was in 2012.
The decision to move to Jordan was the only choice we had to have a good life and stay away from the war. At first, life was hard and my family had low income, but things got easier when my father got a job and my family started making money. I attended school in Jordan for 10 years starting from Kindergarten 1st to 8th grade. Schools had so many kids attending that they had to split the number of students in half, the first half goes to school in the morning shift, and the other half goes to school in the afternoon shift. I was in the afternoon half. The culture and food in Jordan was basically the same in Syria because both of them are next to each other and they both are Arab countries. The only difference I noticed is the accent. I now speak only with the Jordanian-Arabic accent because I grew up there and I completely forgot about the Syrian one.
In October of 2023, my family and I decided for an even better life and moved to the United States. The main reason me and my family came here was for a better life with more freedom because in Jordan it was illegal for me to enjoy the freedoms that the USA has to offer. Everything changed for us, the language, the food, the houses, the culture, and so many things. Upon arriving in the USA, my parents didn’t wait, by December 2023, both my parents were employed and making money. I have been in the United States for 2 years. In the United States, I have the right to speak, but back in Jordan and Syria, people don’t have this right. Also, I have the right to buy my own car and my own house, I did not have this right in Jordan. People go to malls and cinemas for fun in Jordan and Syria, which is the same here. My family got separated because of the war and I have uncles living in different countries like Britain, and Sweden.  Most of my family are still in Syria. And here I am now studying in JSEC as a Junior, and finished my first quarter with good grades. I am happy in this country living peacefully among nice people and I believe that I will achieve all of my dreams here.
