A young girl with a beaming smile passes you in the halls. She is on her way to class knowing she is safe, yet it didn’t always used to be this way.

Three years ago, Sophomore Washima Fairoz moved to the United States from her original home of Dhaka, Bangladesh after threats were made towards her family.

“The living conditions were so less [than America],” said Washima. “You have to struggle with every step throughout your life [in Bangladesh].”

In Bangladesh, women do not have the same freedoms as men. The male of the family rules over the females, and girls are not to speak with the boys.

“There’s politics behind everything,” Washima said shivering at the thought.

Freedom is instilled on the boys allowing them to do much more than the girls ever could.

“If a girl wanted to play a sport everyone would just laugh at them,” Washima said.

Housekeeping was the main activity for women in Bangladesh. In her free time, Washima said she studied for 12 hours a day in Bangladesh. Schooling and education was her way of life, although the teacher’s main goal was to make a profit off the students by forcing them to get expensive tutoring after school.

“We didn’t learn much from teachers because they don’t explain stuff,” said Washima. “Tutoring was really expensive. If you paid the teacher, they would give you the question that would be on the test.”

Being a middle-class family, Washima’s family couldn’t afford these tutoring lessons, so she took the challenge and learned education on her own.

“It was intense and difficult,” Washima said.

A sudden interruption in the family’s life occurred when her father was threatened for letting out a secret of the Awami Nationalist Party, a political party in Bangladesh.

“My father was an important government official of the Bangladesh National Party,” said Washima.

The Awami Nationalist Party threatened to capture Washima and her sister, leaving a scared and nervous feeling.

“That was a horrified memory of my life,” said Washima. “That’s why we moved [out of the country].”

Immediately after her sister’s attempted kidnapping, Washima’s father sought help from other countries and eventually settled in India.

“There was not much difference from Bangladesh,” said Washima. “We then sought help from the UK and London, but they said ‘no we cannot help you’.’”

The Fairoz family continues to search for a new home. With only a week’s notice of doing so, Washima’s family decided to move to the United States.

While reaching out to other countries, the Fairoz family found a country willing to help. They were notified a week prior to their next big move: the United States.

“I didn’t even know what the United States looked like,” said Washima. “They always told us that the U.S. was a superior country because they had everything.”

On arrival, Washima moped off the plane, hearing murmurs of unknown gibberish and was depressed that she couldn’t understand.

“I cried because I wanted to go back to my country,” said Washima. “Then I realized that it wasn’t safe for us.”

At first, coming to the United States was a daunting experience.

“I thought I was going to be weaker [in the United States] because I can’t speak the same language as they do,” Washima said.

Walking into the halls of Biddeford Middle School for the first time, Washima was uneasy and scared to talk with the boys.

“Guys were like aliens,” said Washima in recollection. “In eighth grade I was horrified to talk to guys.”

As the end of the year approached, a life changing moment occurred. Excitement on her face, she walked down the pathway towards the stage of the Performing Arts Center. Her name had been called for the “Top Dog Award”, which is for the hardest worker of the eighth grade.

“I changed my [first] name from Fairoz because I’m now a completely different person,” Washima said.

The reason behind her switch in first names is because her new last name, Fairoz, has many past memories that she rather not recall.

“I used to have depression,” said Washima. “I wanted to start a new life.”

She didn’t believe that her personality would morph from the person she was in Bangladesh, yet she adapted and is now powering through, working her hardest, while still in transition.

Sophomore Cody Newton believes that Washima’s effort in school pushes him to do his best work.

“If you’re working on something with Washima,” Newton said, “there’s something about her work process that just makes you feel like you need to try as hard as you can.”

Sophomore Lauren McCallum agrees that Washima makes the classroom environment better. While Washima works, she collaborates along with her peers to make schoolwork easier, more fun, and also compares ideas with her classmates.

“She’s showed me that even when I have a ton of work to do,” said McCallum. “I can still enjoy myself and have a good time.”

Washima’s dedication carries over from the classroom to school politics and implements different ideas to the student council and sophomore class itself.  The sophomore class adviser Michelle Dion-Bernier believes that Washima is doing a good job as sophomore class president, which she was elected to last year.

“She brings a different perspective to our class officer meetings,” said Dion-Bernier. “She takes into consideration of what other people have said to her.”

Washima acquired the student council role of class president to continue along the lines of her leadership skills that started to appear at the age of six years old.

“I got selected and for the first time nominated as the class skeptic [in Bangladesh],” Washima said. “From that moment I always knew I could lead people.”

Washima welcomes people with a beaming smile and lots of laughter. She easily allows people to like her as she puts herself out there to meet new people.

“She was always extremely fun to be around,” McCallum said.

Although she is molding to her new life, Washima is still in transition and feels she is missing something in her day-to-day life.

“[To make my transition complete,] I need to get someone that I can share anything with,” Washima said.

To help find more people that share similar interest, Washima plans to return to sports next year and continue to keep her studying in check. Some things stay the same for her, but others were due for a change.

“I never thought I would change from the same person as who I was in Bangladesh when I arrived here,” Washima said.

The changes she has implemented are inching her closer and closer to great success, as she plans to continue her habits and hard work.

“I definitely see her as being somebody who is successful,” said Dion-Bernier. “Her ability to succeed and ability to always want to put her best foot forward will get her there.”