"Everyone has a story: Bador Mosa" By Kassie Brown
I like to take the opportunity and send my special thanks and appreciation to Kassie Brown who featured me at The Grand Views Newspaper ( College newspaper issued by The Grand View University, Des Moines, Iowa ).
The Grand Views Newspaper
Kassie Brown, Contributor
February 8, 2013
Filed under Features, Top Stories
The lives of Bador Mosa, journalism junior, and her family have centered on three things: one suitcase, three people and a bullet chasing them away, a life they definitely had not bargained for.
A day of shopping was normal. Her brother sitting in the car, waiting, was normal. Walking back, watching their car burst to flames knowing her brother was inside was not normal. Mosa's thought was to protect her mother. Her thought was to rush to her brother, but she couldn't. She was told he was alive by American troops and she was lied to.
It was just three days after her brother's funeral, which she didn't attend, when her dad received a letter with a bullet enclosed. The message was clear: leave the country or die. The family didn't have much of a choice so they fled, afraid for their lives and expecting to die.
It has been seven years since Mosa last saw her brother and witnessed the fiery event that changed her family. It was seven years ago when Mosa heard soldiers begging her to leave saying, "Please. Please. We're trying to save your life. "It has been seven years since Mosa and her parents left Iraq.
Over the course of those years, many things have changed for Mosa while others have stayed the same.
Mosa, growing up, had many passions but dancing was the biggest.
"Dancing is my passion," Mosa said. "I love dancing."
However, after being forced to leave Iraq and flee to Syria, and then to the United States, dancing has been on the back burner while more important things, like education, have taken priority.
"I used to be a ballet dancer and I just stopped doing that for almost five or six years now just because, you know, moving around," Mosa said.
Mosa said the constant moving and her mother's illness prevented her from pursuing dance. "I was doing ballet through my childhood high school years, but when I left Iraq, I was in my high school years. I fled to Syria and I lived there for two years but I just didn't get the chance to continue. Just focused on my education and there was a lot of things to take care of, especially because of my mom who is disabled. There was no time for me to go and express myself in the way that I wanted, like to go to ballet school. "
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| Bador Mosa ( Sumerian Bedor ) |
If given the time and the right schedule, Mosa said she would like to return to dancing.
Mosa said coming to the United States changed her life and provided her with opportunities she might not have received otherwise, like an education and a chance to do something great.
Mosa said she worries about what her future could have looked like.
"Just a couple of years ago I was worried, if I ended up in Syria or even if I ended up just staying in Iraq, what's going to happen to my future and I'm the kind of person who really looks for big opportunities and want to do something. If I stay in my country I wouldn't do anything that may be great or successful or nobody would hear about it because we don't get publicity and the situation there is risky, you know, "Mosa said.
Mosa said she gets the chance to do something great now and is looking forward to accomplishing her goal and finishing her education.
She said while her desire to succeed keeps her looking ahead, some things cause her to look back.
January 29, 2006 is the day her brother passed away, turning what is usually a time to start over and celebrate into a time of remorse.
"Every time I remember his anniversial death I just, you know, I can, I step alone by myself and kind of, you know, look at old pictures and videos I brought over to watch them. Look back on my memories with him and just like stay home. I prefer the silence for one day, for the whole complete 24 hours I don't even talk to my parents that much, I don't eat, I would feel miserable, "Mosa said.
Mosa said it's hard to get past the pain and even harder to explain it.
"It's just, family is important and it's still special to us it's just even though it's happened since seven years, I don't think it's easy to recover your emotions and to get past whatever happened, even if it happened 10, 20 years ago . You still remember especially if he was close to you. Like a mother who's close to you, or a father who's close to you or a boyfriend who's close to you, so it hurts, "Mosa said.
Mosa said although she has had trauma and pain in her life, she tries to look forward and to set her eyes on the future.
"I want to start discovering myself and which direction I'm supposed to be at and what I'm supposed to do next," Mosa said.
Mosa said she likes Iowa and plans to stay, but would consider moving once she graduated if the opportunity presents itself. She said she has made good friends and has good support from the people in her life.
Mosa said she also enjoys Grand View and the instructors she has had and is excited to make new friends and connect with other students from the Middle East as well.
"I'm totally comfortable making new American friends, but when I found out that I'm not the only Arab student in the community I felt much comfortable, happy, and also felt that I'm still in my homeland and I'm not feeling lonely when it comes to support and being surrounded by new people who speak the same language and enjoy sharing our thoughts and culture hoping that we can represent our countries in a good, positive way and help people to understand us more by hearing our stories , especially if the most topics that usually we are interested to talk about are politics, religion and culture, "Mosa said. "Thus, I still feel myself that I'm lucky to be surrounded by really nice and caring students from each class I'm taking this semester in my communication major or in theater department."
Mosa said she plans to take the citizenship test this August and is looking forward to it.
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