My name is Sally Alghazali, and I am a rising third-year law student at George Mason University, Antonin Scalia Law School. Before law school, I earned a Bachelor of Science in Public Policy with a concentration in Public Management and Governance from Georgia State University. While doing my undergraduate studies, I worked as a Research Assistant at the World Affairs Council of Atlanta, researching global issues and their impact on the United States. I also conducted an honors thesis on sex trafficking in Atlanta, Georgia (more details under the Human Trafficking section). Now, as a law student, I am the Editor-in-Chief of the International Law Journal and the Co-President of the Immigration Law Society. I am working towards a J.D. degree with a concentration on International Law.
My passion and commitment to human rights arose at an early age when I was growing up under Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq, Baghdad. I do not believe words will do justice in describing what life was like to a child living in a society controlled by a dictator, but let me tell you one thing: I never knew how bad it was until I lived somewhere else. The oppression, the injustice, the total isolation from the world made me think it was the norm. It was not, and it never should be. As I grew older and began to comprehend life around me, the 2003 invasion of Iraq took place. The worst months of my life. War is a traumatizing event for anyone who experiences it. However, to me and my family, the war was differently challenging for us. As a family of musicians who attended the only music and ballet school in the country, The Music and Ballet School of Baghdad, the aftermath of the invasion was even more terrifying to us than the war itself. After the war, religious extremists and terrorists took over Baghdad, and they dubbed arts a severe detriment to society; thus, my school became a target. Every time my dad dropped me at school, I had to sneak my violin into the building to escape kidnaps, or worse, death. I still remember the rides to school when the sound of bombs was mixed with Vivaldi’s concertos, and remember practicing the violin during class but being interrupted by an airstrike blast. My school was attacked multiple times. However, my family and I never gave up our fundamental human right to exercise our talents, until the day we received a threat letter ordering us to either quit music or be killed. We chose music and escaped Iraq forever.
Amman, Jordan, became our destination of survival. As every person who was forced to leave their homes, I dreamed of a better life where I could choose my own path. After years of challenges, I arrived in the United States in 2013 as a refugee with nothing but my violin and my dreams. The United States opened its doors to me and made me experience what it is like to live freely. I realized that if freedom and justice were the principles governing my country, I would not have fled home. America enlightened me about the fundamental rights every human being should enjoy, and it became a profound commitment of mine to oppose abusive powers and work to prevent such oppression from happening again to any person.
Today, I practice the violin whenever I want without fear of being killed, and I am pursuing the path I chose to myself freely. Today, I fight the fight against injustice and will continue to give voice to those who are struggling with what I struggled, dreaming what I dreamt, only they lacked the opportunities I had.
Stay informed and never lose hope; there are always people out there who are fighting for you. I am only one of them.