On the media - Life of a Saudi Girl

     My alarm went of at 4:30 a.m. this morning, alerting me to the inviting smells of ground hazelnut beans and a day full of plans. I threw on some jeans, grabbed a clean t-shirt,  ate some biscuits and began making preparations  for what I have often taken for granted as the life of a standard college student. For Majd Abdughani, a Muslim woman from Saudi Arabia, the university experience was far different than I could have imagined.

     This is the life on campus I am familiar with. I expect to find friends sitting on the grass laughing and soaking in Vitamin D or couples strolling together holding hands and openly dating and falling in love. Although we share the same thirst for knowledge and passion for the big dreams in life, Majd and I came from two cultures that could not be more apart.

   She also had a morning ritual to get the day going. First, its some exercise and a little practicing Japanese, but as she got dressed to leave, a black veil and customary clothing were the requisite, unlike the freedom I expect. She entered a campus of segregation, where women and men are kept to study in two locations, almost in two separate classes. It is a highly restrictive society that does not allow women to drive and they live under a constant state of guardianship, forced to ask permission to marry and even if they will be allowed to study. It is a stark cultural difference that I am not even sure I would have the patience for. Heck, I didn't even tell my family when I escaped off to Vegas to get married.

    For the better part of my life I have not been an actively religious person. I have my deeply held beliefs, but it has never been a restrictive aspect of my life. For a young Saudi girl it seems religion and family can be among the strongest influences. It was amazing to hear Majd's transformation over the course of two years. In the beginning she almost resented her cultural and family traditions that put so many requirements on her. Being raised among a society that cherishes arranged marriages, she thought a husband and home life couldn't be a part of her immediate future. She wanted to prove just because she was a Muslim woman, it didn't mean she couldn't become a fantastic scientist. This became a great internal struggle and she had to make the choice to overcome to find her bliss.

     Majd is married now. She obtained her masters degree in  genetics, her green belt in karate and is well on her way to reaching the stars with her new husband. She comes from a religion that believes our lives are controlled 80 percent by fate and only twenty percent by our own choices. It is a thought process I have difficulty trying to image because growing up in California was so absolutely different. I have always thought my decisions were completely my own, especially the wrong ones. Her deeply held beliefs do not leave very much room for failure and every choice needs to be well considered. It is a commitment to self that is something to be admired.

    After listening in on just a short segment of her existence I believe and have hope she made the perfect one.