Written August 17th by one of our staff writers.

I was complaining about tucking my shirt in, and I was passing notes in class when Al Qaeda attacked the US on Sept 11, 2001. I was 13, and I had no idea that sitting in a classroom was a precious freedom for a girl.

By the time I was driving a car, girls my same age in Afghanistan had not been allowed to ride a bike or walk outside alone in 5 years, and suddenly they could attend school. They could learn to read and write, something as commonplace to me as clean drinking water.

But today, as I prep courses for a University and stress over navigating the car line at my children’s school, women my age in Afghanistan, who went on to finish college and other degrees, are now burning those degrees in fear of Taliban rule. They fear their education will endanger their lives. Girls’ schools are now closing again, and women with jobs like mine are afraid to go to work. A few have been brave enough to protest. Some of them now have little girls like I do, and they fear for their children’s futures as well.

Education freedom is often considered a sign of a stable democracy. A part of life for women in Afghanistan that is now gone. And as we watch this freedom taken from so many, let us remember how important these freedoms are and how often we take them for granted. 

Today, I feel a deep sense of gratitude for my own education and for the education available to us as Americans. I pray this situation helps more Americans remember that quality educational choice is something worth fighting for.