Abdirahman Mohamed - US Army: E-4. Specialist and Somali Refugee

Mohamed Malim Refugee Stories

My name is Abdirahman Mohamed. I am twenty-one years old and I am a sophomore at Concordia University, Saint Paul studying Pre-Law and Marketing.

Born in Mogadishu, Somalia, my family and I fled in 2006 when I was ten years old due to the ongoing civil war. This was a narrative that's been seen time and time again but truly is a dangerous situation and makes raising a family impossible. My family and I originally landed in Nevada but came to Minneapolis, Minnesota (also known as Little Mogadishu, Minnesota by Somalis) a short time after. Coming to America, the main challenges my family and I faced was the language barrier and the struggle to fit in. The lack of communication with people I didn’t relate to only made me it harder for me to embrace the gigantic change in culture and environment. With the help of friends and family that already got past this tough transition, I was proud to embrace America and have America embrace me. The United States of America embraced me by giving me citizenship status.

Coming to America as a refugee from Somalia with no knowledge about the language and culture to now being an American citizen, I had a feeling that I had to give back. Given the many opportunities I’ve been given to succeed, the best I can do in return is serve this great country. Even with being a Somali refugee, I still plan on continuing to serve my country under President Trump. Even though I believe he has no sense of direction in what he is doing, he still is my commander in chief and I take everything he says seriously. With his status of President, anything he states has massive influence and could potentially lead to another problem that this country is not ready for. As a solider and citizen, I definitely do have fears for what his actions may lead to but once again he is my commander in chief and I have to respect him.

My advice to refugees that have fled their countries and are hoping to succeed is to learn the language and continue to pursue an education and push the next generation of to pursue an education also. Remember no matter what, education is the best ally that they will find and have in this country. With my own passion for education, I plan on becoming an attorney and later down the line a judge. To serve my country once more as a judge.



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