“My favorite place on campus is


the library.”


Falls. Another opportunity sent her to a pri- vate Quaker school in Philadelphia for her senior year in high school. “Since I’ve been here I’ve learned how to


swim; I’ve learned rollerblading,” she said. She wants to learn to drive a car and ride a bicycle. She would like to see an American wedding.


“I’m very open to learn about different cultures and learn about different holidays.” Now a freshman at LC, she is still reluctant


to share her last name and hometown with the wider world. Even close relatives do not know where she is because women studying in the U.S. are frowned upon — or worse. But Husnia tries not to dwell on how her country will re- ceive her when she completes college. With a U.S. withdrawal planned for 2014, she said the Taliban could be back in control very quickly. For now, Husnia is grateful to be studying


at LC on a full scholarship after Dr. Ed Pol- loway, vice president for community advance- ment, brought the concept to President Kenneth Garren and the LC cabinet, who en- thusiastically supported it. Husnia has three


16 LC MAGAZINE Spring 2012


and a half years stretching in front of her to learn all she can both in and out of the class- room. She also receives some assistance from the Afghan Girls Financial Assistance Fund for insurance, and her host mother in New Jersey pays for her books and offers a home away from home. Lynchburg College is doing the same.


“I came on to the campus and fell in love,” Husnia said. “My favorite place on campus is the library.”


“Islam is beautiful” Husnia grew up in a two-room house with four brothers and two sisters. They had no furniture, and slept and ate on mats on the floor. They retrieved water from a well in their yard, where they also did their cooking. While that lifestyle may seem primitive to us, Hus- nia said it allowed her family to be close and connected. “We share everything,” she said. After her father’s death, her mother sewed,


knitted, and did carpet work, and her broth- ers sold vegetables to keep the family together.


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