My name is Bnar Mustafa, I am Kurdish, from Iraqi Kurdistan. I have a bachelors degree in Law from Sulaimanyah university in Iraq, I have a masters degree in Humanities from Old Dominion University, I also have a certificate from ODU Women’s studies department. Currently, I am a Ph.D. student in the English department. My hobbies are hiking, swimming, and traveling. My earliest memory of reading going back to the first year of my high school with the encouragement of my dad. Typically, in Kurdistan people only read materials for classes to get grads not reading outside books for fun or to self-education. I was one of them until one day in the first year of my high school my dad asked me to help him read! I shocked when I heard him saying that, while he is an Arabic teacher for a primary school. Later I understand that he meant to start reading Novels or story narrative books to self-educate. The reason he asked me to help was that we be a motivator for each other. We started going to public libraries and bring books home and reading them together. Even when he was driving, I was reading books out loud we could use the time together and read as much as we could. There was some time that we used to read a paragraph more than one time to understand well and to have a reflection of peace of advice from the book to our life.

One of the novels that we read together in a narrative story of a lawyer serving a king and his moral behaved made him be famous and after the king died, people in the city were insisted that that lawyer should become a king and he did. I remember my dad keep advising me to study hard to get a good grade so I can go to Low college to become a lawyer, and I did. In addition, my dad and I continued reading books until the second year of college. Unfortunately, when I was in the first year of my college my dad suffered lung cancer and he passed away at the beginning of my sophomore. I have to be honest here, that after his death, I could not continue to read outside materials because of family needs. I was the only one in my family to do most of my dad’s work beside college work. I went back to read an outside book in my second year of my master in Humanities at old dominion university.

My dad was the biggest sponsor of my literacy, even after his death. I have three-year experience as a lawyer in court Sulaymani in Kurdistan. Most of my cases were defending on women’s issues. For example, domestic violence, sexual harassment, and rape. My dad was a feminist advocate, he also encouraged me to focus on women’s issues. In addition, when I come to America, I focused on Muslim refugee issues in Hampton roads and getting a certificate in Women’s studies. This early literacy impacted me to be who I am today. Here, I have to acknowledge that the second person who fulfilled my dad’s sponsor is my husband. He is the one always inspires me to continue study and he slows down his Ph. D. work to take care of our kids so I can continue my Ph.D. I remember four years ago when he told me to study master and I said how can I start without money! He said, “just apply for it if you couldn’t get an assistantship, I will do whatever possible to do for you, I don’t mind even if I beg people for money”. I will never compensate him for what he has done for me. My plan after graduation is to go back to my country and become a professor at one of our university also, continue my work as a volunteer lawyer for those women that can not afford to have an attorney.

In conclusion, I believe all human beings to be successful in life need some sort of sponsors such as social interaction, love, inspiration…etc. It is always beautiful when someone grateful for those who inspired in life.