SKYPE WITH TAREK ZAKANDA

I was very inspired overall by Tarek Zakanda’s skype talk, but I was especially inspired by his aspirations to become an artist and a teacher.  I found his drive and passion to be encouraging. After all he has been through, from being driven from his country and separated from his family, he still has dreams of his own and is still making an effort to control his own life.  I was surprised at first, however, by Tarek’s continuous effort to pursue his dreams. If it was me, I couldn’t imagine being able to focus on anything if I was in a different country than my family and that they were facing war and danger while I was safe.  I understood what he said, though, about how if he wasn’t studying, he would have been killed or forced to join the army in Syria. It was then that I was able to imagine focusing on my own life, and, while worrying about my own family, he is keeping himself safe by continuing his work.  I can also imagine that it gives him something to focus on rather than all of the heartache he must have endured. I, of course, was upset for Tarek when his studies were interrupted by the war, but I think that the most important piece of the story is that he found his way back to them. Afterall, it is better that he was studying and it was interrupted than he not have been studying at all and having faced the consequences of living in Syria.  
I couldn’t help but be saddened by Tarek being separated from his family.  I know that I would not be able to handle a situation like that. I have never been apart from my family for more than four or five days.  These situations were obviously different, though, because I was doing things that I enjoyed and spending time with other family. It was all by choice, and I was still able to keep close contact with my family at all times, as I was never more than a few hours or so away.  Being forced away from them and having to leave them somewhere unsafe while I was able to turn my life around and lead a new one is something I can’t even imagine doing. I feel I was raised in a very close-knit and strong family environment, having been raised with two younger sisters that are more like my friends than anything else, and I have a very close relationship with both of my parents.  I don’t think I could ever bring myself to leave them, and I give Tarek and other people who have to do what he did a lot of credit for having the strength to do so. Of course, I don’t know what is family life was like as a child, but if it was even the slightest bit like mine is, I can’t imagine going through what he went through. In fact, I don’t think I would ever leave the country, despite how bad things would get, unless I was physically forced out.  I can easily see myself falling into a bad state of mind and living if this were to happen to me.