AUAF, Nurturing Thought

Zeinab Weera, the youngest student at AUAF, has made the High School English program a stop on her fast-track to success in her education, in her career, and in life.

In January 2008, Zeinab enrolled as a student in AUAF’s High School English Program. Originally From Mazar-e-Sharif and now living in Kabul, she is a grade twelve student at Zarghooneh High School of Kabul .

Zeinab is thirteen years old and on the verge of high school graduation

The High School English Program is designed to provide high-quality English-language training for Afghan high school students, developing the skills they require to be successful in an English-language program of study.

She already demonstrates confidence and fluency when speaking in English about her hobbies: video games and reading. "Reading stories is what I like best."

She classifies her Sunday sessions at AUAF as most interesting because students read and discuss stories in the class on that day. "We read Ellis and the Newspaper Boy last week which was interesting and fun."

Most Afghan women and girls saw their education suffer during the Taliban years. Unlike others whose education was interrupted or delayed, Zeinab enjoyed acceleration in her schooling, thanks to the determination of her mother. "My mother started to teach me at home when I was four."

"I studied five grades at home," she remembers. "When schools reopened after the Taliban period, I started from sixth grade when I was six years old."

In addition to stories, she points to the method of instruction and instructors at AUAF as being particularly positive. "I like my instructor and the way she tries to help everyone in the class individually." At AUAF, instructors are interested in individual development and mentoring. Small classes as well as available teachers signify this essential value embraced by the university.  

Zeinab Weera is developing goals as well as plans for achieving them. "I would like to become a lawyer," she says of her ambitions. "I study English so if I was not allowed to study law in Afghanistan, I would be able study and practice it abroad."