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The Taliban made education for girls illegal when Marjeela was only four, and it required great sacrifices by her parents to ensure that she and her sisters’ received an education. Middlebury has become Marjeela’s second home. “When I returned to Middlebury after my summer in Kabul, it did not feel like I was going far from home, it felt like I was returning to my other home.”

When she is not in courses like Macroeconomics, General Chemistry, or Ecology and Evolution, Marjeela takes part in student groups, including the Islamic Society, the Biomedical Ethics Club, and Feminist Action. She also gives College tours, tutors middle school students through the program Sister to Sister, and is a board member for the Religious Life Committee. Marjeela is also learning how to swim at Middlebury.

This fall, in her capacity as the President of the Islamic Society, Marjeela even had the opportunity to meet His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama during his recent visit—a remarkable experience for a young woman who several years ago might have been denied an education.