Name: Poshya Ahmed

Major: Interior Architecture

Hometown: Kurdistan, Iraq

How long have you been residing in America?

I came here in December of 2013. So I’ve been here four months.

Do you like it here so far?

Yes, so far I’ve really enjoyed my time here although I miss my family, too.

Has the adjustment been hard coming from Iraq to America?

No, it actually hasn’t been hard for me. I quickly got used to it. I try not to focus on all the differences in our cultures but rather on all the similarities.

You’ve only been here a short amount of time and you already won the Women’s History Month creative writing award. Were you excited?

Yes, I was really excited! I didn’t think I would win. I just took a chance and submitted. My English is not bad but it’s also not that good especially for writing a long essay like that. My essay was over one thousand English words. Of course, if I wrote in my language it would have been more comfortable for me but it was too hard to translate into the right English words. So I just submitted, but I certainly wasn’t waiting around for an award. So when I got the message from Samantha that I won the award I was so excited! It wasn’t just about the award but more importantly that I could send my message through my work. I felt like my message was important and heard.

What was your essay about?

I wrote about women burning themselves, which is a very common problem in Kurdistan, Iraq. As an artist I can stop, sit, look at the numbers and see the problem. In my essay, I explain the problem, but I also said why as an artist I want to work on this particular subject.

What is one thing you would want people to take away from your essay?

Women burning themselves is a problem that may not quickly go away. However the question I think people should be asking is why? Why does this keep happening?