Remembering home Senior recounts journey from Egypt 4 years ago

story

Roslyn Dobbins

She could still remember the way Egypt was.

The apartment buildings in the city she lived in. The food stalls her family would often buy fresh fruits and vegetables from. The smell of beans and falafel in the morning.

She loved the walks she took to see her friends. She could easily go to their houses, then walk with them to the playground at their church. Everything was close to her.

“It was fun,” she said. “The spaces between the two places are not as far. You can just come with me and walk, and you can go anywhere.”

It was 14 years before they could legally emigrate, by which time senior Joy Aziz was in 8th grade. But for her family, it was worth the wait to be finally reunited with Joy’s aunt.

“I was crying,” Joy said. “It was happy crying because [my family] couldn’t believe that finally, we got to get together again. Basically the last time they were living together was 1998.”

America also brought freedom to Joy’s family from the religious discrimination they experienced in Egypt.

“In Egypt, we tend to get some of like, I don’t want to say abuse, but there’s kind of like racism from like the religion part, since we’re not Muslim, we’re Christian,” Joy said.

Joy’s family was never personally treated differently, but their church as a whole was. Their Coptic Orthodox Church back in Egypt was bombed on Palm Sunday in 2017.

Joy says that events like this are nothing new to her and her family.

“We actually take it as a pride because if we died in the name of Christ, we just go to heaven,” Joy said. “So it’s more of a pride that happened to us.”

Here, religion felt safer. But America brought new challenges that Joy’s family had to adjust to.

Listening to the boys in school mock her accent, Joy remembers wondering why she was even here. Everyone seemed to dislike her, and it bothered her more than she wanted. Even the places she thought would bring her comfort in America made her feel excluded.

“I was kind of shocked because I go to a church where it’s all Egyptian,” Joy said. “It should be the same way as I was treated. I was not expecting them to be not welcoming, because I bet they know how it feels.”

Still, Joy always found comfort in her family. Despite her parents working and being tired by the end of the day, they make an effort to spend time together.

“We find a time where we sit together and joke around for a little bit even if it was for 10 minutes,” Joy said. “That would made my entire day.”

In America, Joy not only had no friends, but her life changed too. School days were suddenly an extra two hours longer, and the weekend consisted of Saturday and Sunday instead of Friday and Saturday.

“It was different, getting out really late for me,” Joy said. “In Egypt I used to only stay [in school] for six hours. Those two hours make a big difference.”

Even school was different for Joy. Though Joy learned English back in Egypt, she rarely had to speak it. When school started up, Joy remembers the nerves she felt and the struggle to communicate with others.

“I felt like I’m missing something, or like I’m not capable of speaking,” Joy said. “It was hard to communicate with people, teachers, students around me. I used to hold my phone just in case I didn’t understand anything, I would just translate it right away.”

Joy continued forward, and after some time, began to make friends. She became best friends with some people in her 8th grade PE class who she still is best friends with today.

“It was hard to accept people or being rude to me, even though they don’t know me yet,” Joy said. “But once I found my friends, I guess it kind of got me back to where I used to have my own friends.”

Though Joy was taught English in Egypt, she was taught British English. Joy’s friends helped to introduce her to American words and terminology.

“One time I was eating cookies, but then I used to call them biscuits because this is how I learned it,” Joy said. “They were like ‘What are you eating?’. I was like ‘This is a biscuit’ and then she was like ‘No, that’s cookies.’”

Even with the struggle, Joy is happy to have met new people and see her family reunited.

“I’ve learned that whatever happens in your life the people who love you will be here family.

60 Seconds

Would you rather have the speed of a cheetah or the strength of an elephant?

The speed of a cheetah. I play volleyball, so being able to move around the court very fast would be very helpful, because that’s the kind of thing I struggle with.

What is your comfort food?

Just a nice PB&J. It has to be the same amount of both. It can’t be too much or too little, but a nice middle ground.

What’s your favorite restaurant?

Waffle House. Me and my mom used to go a lot while I was growing up. Me and my friends will stay up till 5 a.m. and drive 20 minutes to Waffle House.

Which movie are you most excited to watch for this year?

I’m really excited for “Oppenheimer.”

What motivates you?

Mainly just the drive to improve myself and to be as good as I can be.

What was your favorite TV show growing up?

“Avatar: The Last Airbender” easily.

What song would be your theme song?

“Running on Empty” by Jackson Browne.

What fictional character do you relate to the most? Sam Winchester from “Supernatural.”

What’s at the top of your bucket list?

It’d be a nice experience to go visit Japan someday.

Fentanyl is part of the nationwide opioid epidemic that’s made its way into our community. Eduardo A. Chavez, the DEA Dallas Field Division’s Special Agent in Charge says that over the last 18 to 24 months, the drug has become the deadliest drug in North Texas.

“It has penetrated almost every neighborhood in every area,” Chavez said.

The threat of fentanyl comes from two main reasons. The first is the recent trend from illegal manufactures selling fentanyl disguised as other prescription drugs.

The second reason comes from how little fentanyl it takes to be lethal and how often that amount is found in the fake pills.

“The potential deadly dose is two milligrams,” Chavez said. “The latest average has shown that six out of 10 pills have two milligrams or more.”

Fifty times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine, the deadly effects of fentanyl have been seen at high schools across the Metroplex.