My name is Kenan Mirou, a boy from Rural Damascus that is known in his Western circle as the guy who can’t spend five minutes without telling you about his homeland. My childhood contains many happy memories, but it was not void of misfortune. I spent the first 14 years of my life receiving treatment for a condition that has been with me since birth and has affected my right leg and mobility during adolescence, but never the soul inside me. When the situation in the country worsened in 2012, my father decided to take us and move to Jordan, where we lived for a year.

A hospital in the US viewed my medical file and helped allot me a medical visa that included my family. We moved to California and have been there since, and I have also completed my medical treatment. I was able to continue school smoothly without skipping a single year, thanks to the great English teachers I had in Syria and the extra work my mother put in to improve my English during the recovery periods I had between surgeries. I was vocal about my experiences and always writing during my time in school, and in 9th grade, a local publishing company that focuses on students’ stories came to my high school. One of their editors picked up my story. Fast forward a month or two, I received an invitation to have my own book signing as enough people wanted to have the signature of the 14-year-old Syrian boy whose story they enjoyed reading. My story truly began here.

My life transformed from a regular student’s academic journey to one full of community activity and raising awareness for a cause that matters to me more than my own well being. I spoke up for my people no matter who was or wasn’t listening. I knew somewhere in my heart that someday it will pay off, and thankfully my instinct wasn’t wrong. In my senior year of high school, I was recommended by one of my teachers for an international conference. One of the main organizers of the conference visited my school, spoke to me, listened to my story and said: “Would you like to repeat what you just told me on the floor of the United Nations headquarters in Geneva?”. Syria’s future lies in our hands, the youth. 

Currently, I am studying to become an Orthopedic surgeon to treat conditions that are just like mine out there, and I am also working on an opinion editorial about my life and the lives of many other Syrians that will be published in the New York Times and another major US media outlet. I do this to ensure the world knows and remembers that no matter where Syrians step on this earth, they will always do three things best: produce, uplift, and shine.