Rotary Scholarship Applications

• Bigelow

I am Karashma. I’m from Afghanistan and I’ve been here for 3 years. When I came to America, it was very hard for me because I didn’t speak English and everything was very challenging for me. This is my last year of school and I’ll graduate soon. I‘m very happy because high school was difficult for me with many challenges.

I came here in 2021 when the US left Afghanistan. My family went to the airport in Kabul to try to leave, but we got separated in the chaos. I was the only person in my family who got out. My family is still in Afghanistan. When I left Afghanistan, I was only 15 years old. I was very young and I was alone. It was very scary for me because I didn’t know what was happening. I was sent to Qatar to a camp for Afghan children for three months. I made friends in Qatar but after a couple of months they had all left for other countries. I was alone and afraid, but then I was sent to the US.

I faced more challenges at a military base in Virginia. Finally I came to Oregon but I was still alone. I didn’t know where I was or what would happen to me. When I arrived in Oregon I lived in a hotel room for two months until the refugee agency found a family to host me. The family took me to Lakeridge, but I spoke almost no English. The first day at Lakeridge, I was afraid and shy and didn’t understand anything, but the teachers and counselor were very nice and helped me.

After a few months, I had to leave that house and my Afghan case manager took me home with her. She wanted me to marry her son and didn’t let me go to school. No one at school knew where I was for two weeks, but the school social worker found me and got help. I was taken into protective custody and placed with a foster family where I still live. They’re very good people. I’m happy to be with them. At first school was so hard for me, especially math and geometry. With time it got better, it got easier, and this year is good.

My parents in Afghanistan helped me overcome these challenges by telling me that I’m strong. I learned to stand up for myself and that I can do anything if I believe in myself. My experiences have changed me. I grew up with a big noisy family, but I’ve learned to be by myself and relax. I know that I have choices and that it’s my life and my body. I learned who I am. If I were still in Afghanistan I would probably be married or dead. But here I go to school, play sports, and have a job. I can do what I want, like go to college and study to become a nurse.

I have applied and been accepted to PCC.

I plan to attend PCC for two years and then apply to transfer to University of Portland.

As a child in foster care, I have been told that I qualify for tuition waivers at community colleges and state universities.